Stop Media Violence!!!

Does exposing children to violence in TV shows, movies and video games increase their odds of violent behaviour later on? That question lies inside every parent, teachers, and at the heart of the ongoing debate over gun control, mental health and the effect of violent media on our society. Mass shootings in various countries have brought renewed attention to the issue of who is responsible when a young adult with no history of violence chooses to open fire on innocent people. Is that the parents are responsible or the media or is the Government???

The games like Grand theft auto, robbery, killing, extortion etc., however, emphasize that find no connection between exposure to violent images and actual violence, and have come to widely differing conclusions depending on their subjects and methodologies. Our culture is more violent, that there is more violence in our daily lives.

Media violence has various effects on our society as it has become embedded in the cultural environment wherein children and adolescents constantly breathe. An environment full of violence, sex, profanity, crudeness, and meanness may wear away civility in society by superseding positive social values.

Some think that the viewers, not the entertainment industry, to decide what one wants to watch. Some may say, if you don't like television violence, then turn-off the television- simple as that.

It is evident that media violence has hazardous effects on children and adolescents to some extent. However, not all children are affected. There are some who are affected more than others. It all depends on how one perceives what one watches. It also depends on children’s age group, gender, background, culture, communities and on various circumstances. Children undergoing or witnessing violence in their home or surroundings are more likely to learn how to eradicate it using means as demonstrated on television, for them it may seem a right and good solution. Not everyone will replicate what they watch but they might learn some things that can be used in similar circumstances. Scenes and situations which are shown in media are dramatized and overdone with special effects using latest technology and this makes it seem real to young children who are unable to distinguish between the real and the make-look-real enacted scenes. And then they try to imitate the same.

  

Media violence cannot be pointed as the cause of any violent action. Clearly, when a tragedy occurs, it is the result of multiple unhealthy forces working together and even the parents must keep a watch. But most forms of media violence increase the probability of violent or hostile actions occurring and increase the risk that any violence that occurs will be more intense or extreme. According to me, media is responsible somewhere or the else for this ongoing debate and actions.

Let me make this clear that these programs work totally on censorship of media violence. However, the effects of media violence so that the public, the media, and the entertainment industry can be educated about the effects and take whatever actions are warranted and as soon as possible for the welfare of the society.

Inside story - The splendour of celebration

Diwali is popularly known as the “festival of lights”, the most significant spiritual meaning is “the awareness of the inner light”. Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. The celebration of Diwali as the “victory of good over evil” The word “Diwali” is a contraction of a word translating to “row of lamps,” as the holiday involves the lighting of small clay lamps to symbolize the victory of good over evil. Firecrackers are burst and, during the festival, all those celebrating wear new clothes and share sweets with family and friends.

The word “Diwali” is a contraction of a word translating to “row of lamps,” as the holiday involves the lighting of small clay lamps to symbolize the victory of good over evil. Firecrackers are burst and, during the festival, all those celebrating wear new clothes and share sweets with family and friends.

There are infinitely more worldwide celebrations that you may not have ever heard of, but taking time to learn about just a few more when possible could be invaluable to gaining a better understanding of the world. Keeping that in mind, hopefully now you can extend your holiday season even longer!

As crowds and colourful elephants, camels and horses traverse the streets, Lakshmi Sharath understands the scale of the Teej Festival

Celebrated all around the world, Christmas falls on December 25th each year to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The word “Christmas” literally means “Christ’s Mass,” and is a feast central to the Christian liturgical year. Furthermore, it is a civil holiday in many of the world’s nations and an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season. Celebratory decorations typically include “decking the halls” with holm, ivy, and other greens, and nativity scenes are popular in several countries. And of course, a Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments is usually a staple to the house, particularly in the United States.

 Ganesha Chaturthi is the most democratic festival in spirit. Every community – caste, religion, region notwithstanding, comes together to welcome Mumbai’s reigning deity. The songs typically start with the standard and very catchy “Tujhko phir se jalwa dikhana hi hoga, agle baras aana hai aana hi hoga,” the musical version of the Marathi phrase,“Ganpati Bappa Morya! Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar Yaa!” asking Lord Ganesha to return every year.

The Shivaratri festival is celebrated every year in Kathmandu in reverence of Lord Shiva with offerings of Bel leaves and fasting for the day and night during a long vigil. This festival is centred on the Pashupati Temple complex located on the Bagmati river not far away from the international airport. This area is crowded with pilgrims from Nepal and India as well as many holy men (or saddhus) who walk around naked with their bodies smeared with ash. A ritual among Saddhus is to smoke marijuana in worship of Lord Shiva and certainly lots of this drug is smoked during Shivaratri.

Holi is celebrated with fun and joy where revellers normally hold a bonfire, throw coloured powder at each other and celebrate wildly. The reason for using coloured powder is to take away sorrow and sadness and literally bring colour into everyone’s lives. People sometimes throw water balloons from roof tops of buildings so be aware if you are walking in the streets below! It is certainly a good idea to wear old clothes ones you do not mind being covered in coloured powder and getting wet.

Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashmi, is a major Indian festival celebrated on the tenth day of Ashvin month according to the Hindu calendar. This day falls in the month of September or October. The day culminates a 9 day fasting period of Navratri in the Hindu culture. The day also coincides with immersion of the idol of Goddess Durga. The day is celebrated to commemorate the killing of Ravana by Lord Rama. The day also celebrates the killing of demon Mahishasur by Goddess Durga. Dussehra celebration spreads the message of the victory of good over sin.

This is how we Indians celebrate no caste no creed just unity!!!

My dream''Travel'' - Means to Explore the World

Traveling can be exhilarating and exhausting, inspiring and intimidating all at once. But with every personal connection the world gets smaller and more navigable. All it takes is one compelling tale about India, and going there suddenly seems easy.

One of the most interesting results of travelling to me was that India appears on both the list of top dream solo destinations and on the list of places where women are nervous to travel alone. This concurs with my feelings about India, that it is a challenging destination, being an Indian I have not travelled my own country.  But one that most adventurous travellers want to tackle, at least once in their lives. People who have travellers’ souls seem to instinctively understand that travel in India is magical; that it will be life-changing; and they will never see the world or themselves in quite the same way again.

And of course, Mumbai is not just all about five-star hotels, famous landmarks and saintly heroes. It is in fact a city of “foot-path poets,” Everywhere Mumbai swirls with people on the go. The dhobi wallahs (laundry men) of Dhobi Ghat, have become a tourist attraction for the way they laboriously wash and dry laundry in open pens — an urban concession to the traditional method of washing clothes in the river and beating them on rocks. Only the dhobi wallahs of Mumbai are all men, whereas laundry as a chore is traditionally done by women.

But everywhere you go in Mumbai you will see people in various stages of industry, from the prosaic and traditional Bombay wallahs to the ultra-modern Mumbaikers. And the Mumbai Local tour gives you a taste of the spectrum of life in Mumbai. I promise myself that I will keep a journal every day when I travel. I do it on the first couple of days and then lose myself in the throes of travel. And then the photographs get downloaded and a lost memory surfaces. 

Although India can be a difficult place to travel and there will be moments when being the center of attention is overwhelming, it is an experience I would redo again in a heartbeat. I hope you can mitigate the feeling of having eyes inappropriately on you and transform uncomfortable situations into positive ones.Furthermore, keep in mind that this issue of staying safe while visiting India is part of a larger issue at hand – what it means to simply be a woman in India. The threats facing female travellers are things that Indian women have been dealing with their entire life, and will still be dealing with for long after we leave.

Ultimately, there is no secret to staying safe in India. It is a continual process of being wise and keenly listening to your instincts – just as you would anywhere else in the world. Indians love to welcome foreigners into their country, so trust your gut in accepting their hospitality and learn from their kindness.India is a complicated and chaotic country, and yet it is also a place of inconceivable beauty and warmth.

“We live in a society where most people are too afraid to take that leap into the unknown, and for us especially like the Mumbaikars represents all the infinite possibility that is born by stepping outside of the normal. That doesn’t mean people have to drop everything and go live in a tent in the winter woods. “But if we can get them thinking about their own freedom and whether they’re truly happy in the life they’ve made and if we can crack open the door to an alternative possibility, another choice—then we’ve done our job. And if we can stoke them up with some incredible riding and breathtaking visuals, even better. The end result warped into a movie that’s weird and out-there and a total off-the-wall gamble in a sea of ski porn, but I hope Mumbaikar delivers on all levels.”

India Sinking - Media Criticism must be taken seriously!!!

India is passing through a bad phase and the present conditions of media and Government which have taken the country back a couple of decades. India is classic and unique in its own ways. India is good in international areas that it has projected a country with no Government effect, falling rupee, lots of scam and corruption. 2 members from Congress have been caught in scam and corruption. This leds to nothing but slowly and steadily eating the core of our own country. Our country is a factual statement and not a stretch of any imagination. This situation mainly takes place because Congress party has lost its touch amongst people. After Independence Congress party was given lots of importance and had full on people’s support. If Governement takes media criticism seriously then we can save our country from slipping into the muddy morass.

The political condition prevailing in the country are worrisome. People elected Manmohan Singh and things are going from bad to worse. There is lack of vision which is costing the nation other factors which the government is trying to project. Government thinks that they are tackling corruption issues head on because in most cases, its own leaders are involved. It would have moved swiftly if Opposition leaders were involved in 2G or Coalgate scams. I don’t understand why Manmohan Singh remains silent? At least his actions must speak if hes not! If he is clueless, he should resign and give way to some leader who may be able to fix the problems. 
           

A few hundred misguided individuals cannot be allowed to hold the state to ransom and deprive the larger population of the much needed power. Their fears are imaginary and stoked by vested interests. People are now saying that Mr. Narendra Modi must become the PM so that he will help in progressing the country. My question which arises here is that are people sure that if Mr. Modi gets elected then he will help in development? Each and everytime people vote to a new candidate hoping that he will make changes but ultimately they fail. Media plays a vital role in broadening the mind of the people and criticising the Government.

Mumbai local trains

Local trains are the most fascinating part of every Mumbaikar’s lives. He may crib or complain about it, but deep inside from the bottom of the heart, he knows that he shares a special Bond with the local trains especially during the peak hours.

The fascinating feature of the super dense loaded local trains is that it always offers space to every person, who wants to get inside it. The technique of getting into the trains is learned by every individual as and when he learns travelling.

Once a Mumbaikar manages to put a foot inside the train, he will shout his daily chant “Aage Badho, Aage Badho bhai”. Everyday there is a huge dispute among the ladies compartment.   
There are specific stations adjoining a Ganesh temple like Mulund where the group that mans the footboard and lets people in and out of the train chants in unison, “Ganpati Bappa Moraya, Mangal Moorati Moraya, Undir Mama ki Jai, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj rules over the minds of Mumbaikars to such exaggerated levels that you can find Chatrapati Shivaji Airport, Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Chatrapati Shivaji Museum.

Suddenly, someone’s foot will fall over another leading to patent abuses and fist fights. The others will shout in unison, “Maaro Maaro’’ thus taking sadistic pleasure out of the rivalry between the concerned persons. Instead of putting stop the fight people will make fun of that situation also.

Someone will pick up a mobile and three to four persons will crowd around him. A special video treat awaits all of them. 
Inside the compartment, there are a few people who know nothing in trains other than picking up a newspaper and reading it from the front page to the end line by line. Some people are busy sleeping.

The rest either discuss politics or films or cricket. Some play cards, while some bring dholaks and sing bhajans in a rhythm that can go several decibels higher and threaten to blow one’s eardrums away.
Earlier, the 1st class ladies compartment connecting with the gents’ compartments used to generate a lot of heat and nasty comments. Even love marriages happened between the blushing girls and the peeping Toms. The Railways put a spanner to all those fun by shutting down all open spaces and broke hearts of many.

Once we alight at the destination, we have to be careful of the speeding dabbawallahs and fishermen shouting “Machchi paani, Macchi paani”.

Several funny incidents do happen, which remain in the memories of the daily travellers for a long time.
The fourth seat in the local train is the most cursed seat. It never makes us sit with our full bottoms but still there is lot of competition for it. And the worst part of the train is that each and every passenger will ask ‘kaha utharna h’ this thing makes me go mad.

The ones who get to sit suddenly sleep as if they are put on a pill and swing to the vibrations of the train in gay abandon while the one who is awake gets frustrated by their acts.
Many a times, to the surprise of those boarding the train, the entire seat including the window happens to be empty which makes them rush to catch the seats only to notice that someone has defecated over there. They just quietly cover their noses and move towards the next compartment.

Whatever may be the case travelling in local trains gives a pleasure which each and everyone must experience. For me this is one of the best experiences since I started travelling.

''Media'' - this word bring wonders

The common man sees journalists as powerful people. The misuse of this so-called power of the media, though on a much bigger scale.

Being a trainee in a reputed news I have heard these comments from people

“You are a journalist, can’t you get passes arranged for that concert?”, “Can I get a similar Press Card like yours?”, “It is easy to show your Press Card and tell the police you are a journalist when you are charged for a minor offence”, “Don’t you know I am from the media?”, “A PRESS sticker on the car can do wonders”.

Rajdeep Sardesai, the editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN television, tweeted after a televised debate on the subject, “I guess journalists are more feared today, but sadly less respected. We are more arrogant, less ethical”.

Questions that remain unanswered that lot of journalist and people from channels are put behind bars but there is no case against them. Even lot of journalist are paid money for the news.

Three media people, including two employees of the India TV news channel, were accused of trying to extort money from a traditional Unani healer, after apparently filming him prescribing Western medicine to patients. Lot of news channels are being  suspended after they were accused of being involved in an extortion case.

Such instances, and a bigger case that involves politician and wealthy industrialist Naveen Jindal, have reignited the debate on media regulation in India. It seems the self-regulation model has failed in India and it is time for a body that has the authority to issue and cancel a journalist’s permit to work, something that is not required in India today.

The industry doesn’t need a regulator to seek reporting approvals, or to get story ideas vetted or sources verified. In a democracy, the freedom of press is and should be paramount. What we need is a body which can come down heavily on those who misuse their position in a wrong way such as extortion, or bias.

For instance, if a journalist is found guilty in extortion case and serves the jail-term, can he be trusted to report objectively once he’s back on the job? What we need are rules with provisions to ban journalists or news organisations found guilty in such cases.

As more and more young people continue to enter the profession, strict provisions could act as a barrier or discourage. Only then will there be the possibility of journalists being feared less and respected more.

future of social media and politics - in total darkness!!

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat and putative prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), became the most-followed Indian politician on Twitter, with more than 1.8 million followers. When he got elected as the candidate for Prime Minister Position, the occasion was celebrated by BJP supporters across the social media, and had a growing impact on Indian politics.

Firstly when this social media was founded many politicians went against it. And now the scenario has been changed. But the pace at which the political world is embracing social media has accelerated dramatically in the last year. Aside from the BJP’s wholesale adoption of Twitter – Modi’s allies on the network include the party’s parliamentary leader, Sushma Swaraj, and a coterie of organized supporters – prominent Indian politicians from all parties have leapt in.

India’s president, Pranab Mukherjee announced that he would open a Facebook account to receive and respond to the public’s questions. Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee runs a popular and widely read Web site that traditional media outlets mine daily. Similarly, Omar Abdullah, the youthful Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, regularly interacts on Twitter, and his much older Rajasthan and Kerala counterparts, Ashok Gehlot and Oommen Chandy, respectively, have opened Facebook accounts as well. This change was not at all expected.

More than half of the members from politics are now online, and most government offices are establishing a social-media presence. Indian political issues are being raised and debated regularly – across social media. The finance minister spoke to the public about the budget, not on TV, but in a Google Hangout. The main question which arises now is that the people who are not connected via social media will how come to know about what’s going on in the world. The extent of Internet penetration today – makes the country the world’s third-largest online market, and also the fastest growing for its size.

Nonetheless, scepticism about the reach and political impact of social media in India is in order. As one of India’s first politicians to embrace social media, my view is that this conclusion is premature. I do not believe, given the numbers, that any Indian election can be won or lost on social media alone.

Only a small minority of India’s voters use social media; with electoral districts of some two million people each, Twitter is of little help in political mobilization. Unlike, Twitter would be useless for organizing a mass rally or even convening a large public meeting.

But, while social media cannot be a substitute for conventional campaigning, they can help to set the agenda of public debate, because traditional media – newspapers and television, which do reach most voters – tap into social networks for information about and from politicians. This indirect impact makes social media an indispensable communications tool for politicians.

In any case, no democratic politician should resist a new communications medium, particularly an interactive one – even if some seem to regard it mainly as a public-relations tool. Such social media is not at all suitable medium for a serious politician. But Google and Yahoo! were once silly names; both are now household words. I am convinced that a majority of politicians in 21^st century democracies – including India – will be tweeting.

But social media is surely not the future of India.