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Journalism and Activism or Intellectual Terrorism

Sometime back- before the COVID-19 caught everybody's attention, I met an American journalist/activist at one of the premier education institute. Throughout the conversation (where I was on the sidelines- as I had gone to meet some faculty), the active participants - the faculty, research associates and PhD candidates were giving him inputs. Being a journalist, he was taking meticulous notes. He was visiting India and reporting a few things, supporting activists and causes. But what??? There were only 3 topics on which he was asking questions and seeking opinions. Ram Mandir verdict, Citizenship Amendment Act and Rafael deal. This may have been okay- had he been genuinely seeking opinions. He had visited Ayodhya the week before and was narrating his experiences. Within a few minutes, I understood that he was primarily seeking anti views only. He was out rightly rejecting/ignoring any views otherwise. Needless to say, the audience (maybe awed by white skin and accent- lot of us
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Schools in the Business of Education

School Few incidents over the last couple of weeks made me look up the meaning of school in the dictionary. As per Dictionary: skuːl/ noun: school; plural noun: schools 1. an institution for educating children. 2. any institution at which instruction is given in a particular discipline. An institution for Education Finished school about 25 years ago. I may be a little outdated, That’s what even I considered schools to be. Not because the dictionary says so. But we felt so, while we were in school. There was a lot that we learnt at school. From the books, our syllabus and curriculum. We had numerous activities like sports, debates, quiz competitions, cultural and co-curricular activities, apart from academics. Though we didn’t have a lot of facilities and infrastructure, but let's skip them for now. Talking about knowledge and education. I still remember a lot from my school days- the basic concepts and even its application. Many a times I am amazed, rather

New Year Resolutions are for the Fickle Minded

It's good to make and keep resolutions. Today is 1st Jan 2018. More than half the world would make New Year Resolution (NYR). Most will fail. The very practice is conceptually flawed. The Tradition. The history goes back to the Babylonians & the Romans, who vowed on a day or during a specific period, to do something through the year. The vows were made to the Gods; entailed a much bigger commitment. The New Year Resolution. In Modern times, as part of NYR, we commit to ourselves (or family) to start or to stop doing something. The most common resolutions are:- Stay Healthy Lose weight Enjoy life to fullest Save more Spend more time with family/friend Few lesser talked NYRs; which constitute a high percentage; are giving up habits like Drinking, smoking, and other more dangerous substances. Simple Observation. I haven't made any NYR but do indulge in physical activity regularly. Mostly a sport or jog, sometimes both. I am in Abu Dhabi for a few day

Virtual Greeting, Social Celebration and Real Relations

Facebook greeted me with a message, as the year came to a close.  Do I care?  Obviously Not. My year ended pretty good, even with this note from Facebook.   But, Should you care? Real World Connections. I have close to 2000 friends on Facebook. All of whom I have met, most I fondly interact whenever I meet. (Few are mere acquaintances). The number would have been greater if all my friends were on Facebook and connected. I have made friends in real life and later connected with them on Facebook. The friends on my list are from my School days, College, Band of Brothers from the Armed Forces, Training academies, various courses I've attended, people with whom I've served in various tenures. My batch mates from MBA. Colleagues from the companies I've worked with. Neighbours from places I've stayed at. Friends with whom I've gone on trips. My students, participants and trainers- from the trainings I've attended and imparted. Friends I made on var

Journalism, Sensationalism and Bitching

Sensationalizing a stupid story Journalism is supposed to be writing for newspapers, or news websites or preparing news for broadcast…. But reading and listening to most of the news, feels like it’s more of sensationalizing and bitching, not caring what’s right or wrong. Truth but Not all the Truth A recent front page article by Kavita Updhyay in 26/11 Indian Express talks about arrest of a Muslim youth for sharing something offensive about Prime Minister via his smartphone. The article portrays the boy (an uneducated adult) and his family (irresponsible citizens and parents) as victims. It doesn’t mention anything more than ‘morphed photo’ about what he shared was objectionable. WTF. You’ll just make a story because you want to portray a minority youth as a victim. Pathetic. Misplaced Priorities: Masala over Martyrs I prefer facts and the right things. Firstly, on 26/11, the day of terror attacks, the newspaper gives about 20% real-estate on front page to this stu

Gujarat and Safety

 A video has supposedly gone viral in poll bound Gujarat (Surprising, how I was not able to find this viral on youtube, facebook, google. None of the friends I spoke to have seen it on whatsapp either). This controversial video is being given communal flavour by the presstitutes and covered as front page news . Election commission has ordered a probe, banned the video. Cybercrime Cell is investigating its origins. Libtards are demanding strict action against those who made and circulated the video. I fail to understand how the speeches by the likes of Owaisi and Abdullah are not found inflammatory and they are not imprisoned for instigating communal divide. This video, is in no way communal as being portrayed by the presstitutes, Libtards and siculars. I haven’t seen the video, but what I’ve read is: The video shows a girl hurrying back home; through a deserted locality with some sound playing in the background (probably azaan). When she finally enters her house, her worried paren