..I'd firstly get up a lot earlier in the morning than i usually do..i'd spend the entire morning exploring how the Prime Minister of India lives..how many telephone connections he has that he doesn't have to pay the bills for, the food he gets to eat, i mean can he order subway for breakfast and not have to pay from his own pocket..what about chinese food?? How many cars does he have access to.. Does he have a private jet or something as well..??
After i'd figure out these things i would sit to plan how i can schedule my entire day in a way that i could enjoy most of these luxuries (a part of which are probably being paid for, from your dad's tax payments).
Thereafter, as the day would proceed i would find a moment to announce that all caste based reservations at the graduation and the post graduation levels have been scrapped and i would figure out the technicalities of making it illegal to even mention it in a public forum the next day onwards.
I would make the contact number of the original PM a part of information easily accesible to the public besides the contact numbers of all the Chief Ministers and MP's and MLA's.
Then i would, announce an increment in the pay for all the 3 services of the defence, bringing them at par with the highest paid government officials and if i realised that our country can't afford it i would bring down the pay of all government officials to the same level as that of the defence.
At the end of all this,if there was still time left in the day,i'd continue with enjoying the luxuries of being the Prime Minister of India.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
What Independence Day Means to Me.
As far back into my memory as i can go, i remember independence day as a period of a few days, comprising of a flag hoisting formality at school on the 13th or on the 14th, my dad going for dinner at the officers' mess on the 15th and for some reason i have a memory of eating tri coloured ice cream on one of these days as well.
The flag hoisting formality at school over the years got a new meaning with each passing year. While i was in my primary classes at school there used to be my favourite toffee - Aam Ras or Mango Bite, that used to fall from the folded flag at the top of the pole, when the principal tugged on the rope to unfurl the flag. After a few years, when i moved into the middle school wing, our teachers thought that we had become too big to be jumping around the pricipal for toffees so the flag just dropped rose petals this time.Dissapointing.
A little further up into my middle school , i had joined the NCC as a cadet. Having newly learnt how to salute, i would salute during the flag hoisting ceremony.Proudly.
As i entered high school, i had my last memorable independence day.It was around that time when i realised i had a love for being an anchor or the MC in school events. I had been chosen to be the MC for the independence day celebrations. The primary class students had prepared a fancy dress with 'The struggle for independence' as their theme. The flag hoisting ceremony took place and for the 1st time - i also had to hear the principal's speech! Then..
The Fancy Dress : (girl) from 1st B as Rani Lakshmi Bai (round of applause)
(boy) from 3rd C as Gandhi ji (another round of applause)
______ as Jawaharlal Nehru. I didn't have his name on the list. Oh God..!! I quickly turned around to ask a nervous little boy about to take the stage, - Whats your name??
He was quick to reply - I am Jawaharlal Nehru.
The event however overall went off well. There were refreshments distributed towards the end.
In the years that followed i havn't attended another flag hoisting ceremony. I had started bunking the morning assembly in the 11th and 12th. In college - i bunked classes. I dint even know if we had a morning assembly or a flag hoisting ceremony for independence day at all.
On this independence day, messaging was 1 rupee 20 paise against the usually subsidised rate of 25 paise. Travelling in Delhi was risky. Bomb blast scares. No tri coloured ice cream. Unhealthy food colour apparently. No dinner at the officers' mess either since my dad is on study leave. However it was a nice long weekend at home this time. Relaxed and Fun.
The flag hoisting formality at school over the years got a new meaning with each passing year. While i was in my primary classes at school there used to be my favourite toffee - Aam Ras or Mango Bite, that used to fall from the folded flag at the top of the pole, when the principal tugged on the rope to unfurl the flag. After a few years, when i moved into the middle school wing, our teachers thought that we had become too big to be jumping around the pricipal for toffees so the flag just dropped rose petals this time.Dissapointing.
A little further up into my middle school , i had joined the NCC as a cadet. Having newly learnt how to salute, i would salute during the flag hoisting ceremony.Proudly.
As i entered high school, i had my last memorable independence day.It was around that time when i realised i had a love for being an anchor or the MC in school events. I had been chosen to be the MC for the independence day celebrations. The primary class students had prepared a fancy dress with 'The struggle for independence' as their theme. The flag hoisting ceremony took place and for the 1st time - i also had to hear the principal's speech! Then..
The Fancy Dress : (girl) from 1st B as Rani Lakshmi Bai (round of applause)
(boy) from 3rd C as Gandhi ji (another round of applause)
______ as Jawaharlal Nehru. I didn't have his name on the list. Oh God..!! I quickly turned around to ask a nervous little boy about to take the stage, - Whats your name??
He was quick to reply - I am Jawaharlal Nehru.
The event however overall went off well. There were refreshments distributed towards the end.
In the years that followed i havn't attended another flag hoisting ceremony. I had started bunking the morning assembly in the 11th and 12th. In college - i bunked classes. I dint even know if we had a morning assembly or a flag hoisting ceremony for independence day at all.
On this independence day, messaging was 1 rupee 20 paise against the usually subsidised rate of 25 paise. Travelling in Delhi was risky. Bomb blast scares. No tri coloured ice cream. Unhealthy food colour apparently. No dinner at the officers' mess either since my dad is on study leave. However it was a nice long weekend at home this time. Relaxed and Fun.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Newspapers in development
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." -Thomas Jefferson, 1787.
The Roman Acta Diurna, is the earliest recorded “newspaper”, which was found to have appeared in about 59 B.C. . The Acta kept citizens informed about government scandals, military campaigns, trials and executions under Julius Caesar's regime. Today, when,there are more than 60,000 registered newspapers in india alone, newspapers are looked upon to play a similar role, though the areas on which they now have to provide information stand largely diversified.
Newspapers have played a role in facilitating development mainly by performing their primary activity of providing facts and information. This role of newspapers has been enacted at different levels in different magnitudes in different areas of our country. India has a large number of local dailies and regional newspapers,specific to a district,state or region, most of which are also locally owned and operated by people directly effected by the development or lack of development in that region. Many of these newspapers, being run in rural areas ,become the only source of information,for the rural people, regarding areas outside of their villages or districts and also about local information that they don'y get. When newspapers give information about living conditions better than the ones in which the readers are living, they tend to organise themselves and put pressure on authorities and on the local governments to bring about the required changes. In many cases this has resulted in bringing about changes in factors effecting the quality of public life. Newspapers in rural areas have resulted in empowering the rural people to take part to a certain extent in the process of facilitating development.
Newspapers in many large cities are sometimes circulated amongst people who aren't aware of the conditions prevailing in the rest of the country or the level of development outside the metros. Newspapers in the metros hence also fail to have an adequate impact on influencing the urban masses to give support to rural issues relating to development. However, the role of newspapers in urban areas has been linked to development through various other ways. The newspapers have facilitated the organising of thought and action amongst various educated urban masses, over the years on various issues,though that role is now shared by all forms of media.
Making use of the accesibility to a mostly an educated readership, newspapers in urban areas have, in the past few years, initiated many direct programmes towards development. Many popular english dailies in the metros started programmes targeting school students, to create awareness, to give them a voice, and to directly take part in the development of the educational scenario,for eg. The Times of India started the programme NIE- newspaper in education aimed at school students, very recently The Times of India also started a campaign, called the teach india campaign, aimed at organising the educated people in 4 metros towards educating people who aren't privileged enough to get admissions in schools.
The role of newspapers in facilitating development has changed largely over the years, from being the biggest mode of mobilising people towards action during the years of the struggle for independence, to now,when it shares the responsibility towards creating an awareness of development or underdevelopment with other forms of media. Newspapers have responded to the requirement and have constantly reinvented themselves to continue contributing to the process of creating awareness, which is the first step towards defeating underdevelopment, be it social, cultural or development of any kind.
The Roman Acta Diurna, is the earliest recorded “newspaper”, which was found to have appeared in about 59 B.C. . The Acta kept citizens informed about government scandals, military campaigns, trials and executions under Julius Caesar's regime. Today, when,there are more than 60,000 registered newspapers in india alone, newspapers are looked upon to play a similar role, though the areas on which they now have to provide information stand largely diversified.
Newspapers have played a role in facilitating development mainly by performing their primary activity of providing facts and information. This role of newspapers has been enacted at different levels in different magnitudes in different areas of our country. India has a large number of local dailies and regional newspapers,specific to a district,state or region, most of which are also locally owned and operated by people directly effected by the development or lack of development in that region. Many of these newspapers, being run in rural areas ,become the only source of information,for the rural people, regarding areas outside of their villages or districts and also about local information that they don'y get. When newspapers give information about living conditions better than the ones in which the readers are living, they tend to organise themselves and put pressure on authorities and on the local governments to bring about the required changes. In many cases this has resulted in bringing about changes in factors effecting the quality of public life. Newspapers in rural areas have resulted in empowering the rural people to take part to a certain extent in the process of facilitating development.
Newspapers in many large cities are sometimes circulated amongst people who aren't aware of the conditions prevailing in the rest of the country or the level of development outside the metros. Newspapers in the metros hence also fail to have an adequate impact on influencing the urban masses to give support to rural issues relating to development. However, the role of newspapers in urban areas has been linked to development through various other ways. The newspapers have facilitated the organising of thought and action amongst various educated urban masses, over the years on various issues,though that role is now shared by all forms of media.
Making use of the accesibility to a mostly an educated readership, newspapers in urban areas have, in the past few years, initiated many direct programmes towards development. Many popular english dailies in the metros started programmes targeting school students, to create awareness, to give them a voice, and to directly take part in the development of the educational scenario,for eg. The Times of India started the programme NIE- newspaper in education aimed at school students, very recently The Times of India also started a campaign, called the teach india campaign, aimed at organising the educated people in 4 metros towards educating people who aren't privileged enough to get admissions in schools.
The role of newspapers in facilitating development has changed largely over the years, from being the biggest mode of mobilising people towards action during the years of the struggle for independence, to now,when it shares the responsibility towards creating an awareness of development or underdevelopment with other forms of media. Newspapers have responded to the requirement and have constantly reinvented themselves to continue contributing to the process of creating awareness, which is the first step towards defeating underdevelopment, be it social, cultural or development of any kind.
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