Mumbai Burns Under Terror

Following are some excerpts from the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s address to the Nation.

”The dastardly terror attacks that took place in Mumbai last night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many others have deeply shocked the nation. I strongly condemn these acts of senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign countries. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and sympathies to those injured. The Government will take all necessary measures to look after the wellbeing of the affected families, including medical treatment of injured.

The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners.

I salute the courage and patriotism of the police officers, including the Chief of the Anti-Terror Squad, Shri Hemant Karkare and men who have laid down their lives in fighting these terrorists. I assure the country that we will attend in an urgent and serious manner to police reform so that the law and order authorities can work unitedly, effectively and in a determined manner to tackle such threats to national integrity.

We are not prepared to countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with impunity by terrorists.

We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts. We are determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.

We will take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them. We will take a number of measures to strengthen the hands of our police and intelligence authorities. We will curb the flow of funds to suspect organizations. We will restrict the entry of suspects into the country. We will go after these individuals and organizations and make sure that every perpetrator, organizer and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliation or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people.

In this hour of tragedy, I appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony so that the enemies of our country do not succeed in their nefarious designs. All concerned authorities are on alert and will deal sternly with any attempts to disturb public order.
I am confident that the people of India will rise unitedly to face this grave challenge to the nation’s security and integrity.”

I just wish to ask how do our ‘dear’ ministers who sit themselves comfortably with ‘Z’ level security; plan to combat such terrorist acts and ensure security and safety of its citizens. I used this ‘address’ by the PM as a beginning, because I don’t know why but all the time anyone, in any occasion goes to address the nation, it sounds so high on words and so low on emotions.

World hasn’t slept for last 24 hours as Mumbai is engulfed in the worst ever night-marish situation seen in the country.

I, a resident of Delhi, myself have been following this story through various national and regional (Delhi-based) media like Radio, News channels, websites, etc. and I still feel the shock of the situation. I don’t want to say I can sympathize, because I don’t want to decrease or demean the emotions of people who are facing this experience first hand. But yes I can say I feel a sense of empathy, every time I watch the coverage. This is no other world experience, this time it has inflicted us right in heart and what’s more that its not a “come-destroy-leave” situation this time around. This time they wound is still bleeding as the weapon of destruction is still present there in Mumbai.

We all know that life in Mumbai has come to a stand still. Our country has been besieged once again by terrorists and not just that ‘they’ are still here….in one of our own State…in homes of our national brethren.

Civilian casualties have reached more than 130, with around 800-900 being injured. At the time of submitting this article, Mumbai was still burning (literally and metaphorically) under terror & end seemed still near the sight.

People of Mumbai are no longer satisfied with clichés on their ‘stoic spirit’ and ‘resilience’ (as I noticed in the variety of celeb and general public interviews taken by news channels throughout the day). They want answers. They want to know why it happens to them.

As Shobha De, eminent writer, remarked in an interview, “we pay millions of rupees for security of our ministers and providing them Z security but where are they….” She also remarked that all our prominent ministers could do were give ‘slow’ and ‘lackluster’ speeches.

Noticeably though in time of adversity is the heroic stories of our brave security officers (Police, NSG, ATS, Millitary, Navy, etc) who are all working together and trying to free Mumbai from its nightmare. More than 15 officials have been reported dead so far, including the three most prominent Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte. Heroism also is shown by the staff members of both Taj Mahal and Oberoi. Many of them have given up their lives even while trying to get their hotel guests out of harms way.

Terrorist have turned the iconic architectural marvel, Taj Mahal hotel, into a warzone. It’s a place with which almost every Mumbaikar and tourist has a story attached to. Now the place is being shattered piece by piece with gun shots, grenades and raging fire.

Our hearts, minds, prayers and empathy goes to Mumbai and its people. Mumbai was still burning under terror & end seemed still near the sight.

Ex-PM, VP Singh; dies

Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 - 27 November 2008) was the 10^th Prime Minister of India. V.P.Singh died after a long struggle with Blood cancer and renal failure in Apollo Hospital on 27 November 2008

V. P. Singh entered local politics in Allahabad during the Nehru era. He soon made a name for himself in the state Congress Party for his unfailing rectitude, a reputation that he would carry with him throughout his career.

He was appointed by Indira Gandhi as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980, when the Congress came back to power after the Janata Party interregnum. As CM, he cracked down hard on the dacoity, or banditry, problems, which were particularly severe in the rural districts of the south-west. He received much favorable national publicity when he offered to resign following a self-professed failure to stamp out the problem, and again when he personally oversaw the surrender of some of the most feared dacoits of the area in 1983.

Called to the Centre following Rajiv Gandhi's massive mandate in the 1984 General elections, he was appointed to the pivotal post of Finance Minister, where he oversaw the gradual relaxation of the license Raj as Rajiv Gandhi had in mind. During his term as Finance Minister, he oversaw the reduction of gold smuggling by reducing gold taxes and the excellent tactic of giving the police a portion of the smuggled gold that they found. He also gave extraordinary powers to the Enforcement Directorate of the Finance Ministry, the wing of the ministry charged with tracking down tax evaders.

Following a number of high-profile raids on suspected evaders Rajiv Gandhi was forced to sack him as Finance Minister, possibly because many of the raids were conducted on industrialists who had supported the Congress financially in the past.

He was then given a sideways shift to Defence Ministry. Singh began to investigate the notoriously murky world of defence procurement. After a while, word began to spread that Singh possessed information about the Bofors defence deal that could damage the Prime Minister's reputation. Before he could act on it, he was dismissed from the Cabinet and, in response, resigned his memberships in the Congress Party and the Lok Sabha.

On 11 October 1988, the Janata Dal was formed by merger of Jan Morcha, Janata Party, Lok Dal and Congress (S), in order to bring together all the centrist parties opposed to the Rajiv Gandhi government, and V. P. Singh was elected the President of the Janata Dal.

A federation of the Janata Dal with various regional parties including the DMK, TDP, and AGP, came into being, called the National Front (India), with V. P. Singh as convener and N. T. Rama Rao as President.

The National Front fought the elections in 1989 after coming to an electoral understanding with the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Left Front that served to unify the anti-Congress vote. The National Front, with its allies, earned a simple majority in the Lok Sabha and decided to form a government.

V. P. Singh had been clearly projected by the anti-Congress forces as the 'clean' alternative to Rajiv and their Prime Ministerial candidate. He was then elected and he held office for slightly less than a year, from December 2, 1989 - November 10, 1990.

Singh himself wished to move forward nationally on social justice-related issues, which would in addition consolidate the caste coalition that supported the Janata Dal in North India, and accordingly decided to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission which suggested that a fixed quota of all jobs in the public sector be reserved for members of the historically disadvantaged so-called Other Backward Classes.

At the same time, BJP was moving its own agenda forward: in particular, the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, which served as a rallying cry for several radical Hindu organisations, took on new life. The party president, Lal Krishna Advani, toured the northern states on a rath - a bus converted to look like a mythical chariot - with the intention of drumming up support. Before he could complete the tour by reaching the disputed site in Ayodhya, he was arrested on Singh's orders on the charges of disturbing the peace and fomenting communal tension. This led to the BJP's suspension of support to the National Front government. V. P. Singh faced the vote of confidence saying that he occupied the high moral ground, as he stood for secularism, had saved the Babri Masjid at the cost of power and had upheld the fundamental principles which were challenged during the crises; `What kind of India do you want?', he asked of his opponents of various shades in Parliament before losing the vote 142-346; only the portion of the National Front remaining loyal to him (see below) and the Left front supported him in the vote.

Singh decided against contesting the new elections and retired from active politics. He spent the next few years touring the country speaking about matters related to issues of social justice and his artistic pursuits, chiefly painting. Singh acted as a sort of elder statesman and adviser for the successors to the National Front coalition. In 1992, Singh was the first to propose the name of the future President K. R. Narayanan as a (eventually successful) candidate for Vice President. Later the same year in December, he led his followers to Ayodhya to oppose the Kar seva proposed by L. K. Advani, and was arrested before he could reach the site; the Masjid was demolished by the kar sevaks a few days later.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 and ceased his public appearances. Though he did make a few appearances off and on in the country’s politics but none withstood his previous style and political vigor.

Hemant Karkare: A Hero Dies

The last television visuals of the 54-year-old officer showed him in a light blue shirt and dark trousers surrounded by uniformed policemen armed with firearms and walkie-talkies. He wore a helmet, talked on his cellphone and finally put on a bullet-proof jacket before he met his deathly fate in the country's biggest terror seize.

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, suffered three bullet injuries in his chest, as he was leading the offensive against the terrorists at Mumbai's Taj Hotel against terrorists on Wednesday.

Mr. Karkare, who was the 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, held a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vishveshvarayya Regional Engineering in Nagpur. He also served in the Naxalite-infested Chandarpur area of the state. He became the head of ATS in January this year following his return to the state cadre after serving seven years in Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Austria.

One of the brightest officers, Karkare had solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel and was also credited for the stunning revelations in the investigation of the September 29 blast in Malegaon.

As ATS Chief he was also involved in the Malegaon blast probe which was subject to a lot of criticism by many Hindu organizations.

During the Malegaon investigation, Karkare had told his officers not to create false evidence, saying, "We should do our job and it is for the court to decide." Incidentally, the Pune ATS on November 26 reportedly received phone calls threatening to blow up the residence of Karkare "within a couple of days".

In his last interview to a television channel on Wednesday, he referred to getting the custody of Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, and said "police custody would have helped investigations to proceed faster but still we will see how best to deal with it in a legal way".

When asked about criticism levelled by BJP leaders especially, L K Advani's outbursts against the agency, Karkare said "when allegations are made anyone (we) will feel hurt." He rejected charges of the Sadhvi being tortured during police custody.

As he now rests in peace, people come out in streets in Pune, where he is being cremated on Thursday afternoon, to offer their reverence to a courageous officer. He was known for his discipline and fair investigation. He was well respected in Police as well as Media circuits. His brave act of fighting the terrorists ended in tragedy. This incident seems to be a great amount of loss for Maharashtra and Indian Police forces; he will always be remembered for his brave and courageous acts of both his investigations as well as his active role in offensive attacks against terrorism.

(Inputs from PTI).

Mumbai rocked with terror

Mumbai was rocked by several incidents of firing at four different public places on Wednesday night. All incidents were within a radius of three kms in the posh South Mumbai.
At the time of the filing this report, 3 people were dead and more than 25 were injured.
Details are sketchy but it is believed that groups fired outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Railway Terminus, Hotel Oberoi, the popular Café Leopold restaurant and Cama Hospital all in south Mumbai.
No one including the police will confirm the reason behind the firing except the fact that some unknown people started firing indiscriminately.
Eyewitness also said that some grenades were thrown at a police van and also of two bomb blasts near the Oberoi hotel but it was not confirmed by officials.
The Mumbai police have cordoned off all the areas. A blast was also reported in Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai. Eyewitnesses said that they heard at least 20 shots in CST station. Policemen and ambulances have rushed to the affected areas, they said.
A resident of Colaba and an eyewitness to some of the incidents said, "The police got news that there were explosions at the BMC headquarters in Lion Gate in South Mumbai. When the police arrived, the gangsters/terrorists fired at the police. As the police started chasing them towards the CST station, they opened indiscriminate fire."
In reports by given by news channels it has been stated that, two persons armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades are reportedly holding up inside CST stations. Sounds of gunshots are still being heard. Hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the station. The station and premises has been evacuated. It has also been reported that the five-star Hotel Oberoi is under siege and gunmen are reported to have held the occupants hostage.
It seems to be a new modus operandi has been adopted by the strikers to rock the city and its law and order in a new way. Struggles of mumbaikars, for peace and security seem to be far from over. After a phase of month’s long internal political crisis it is now terrorism that takes them again into a bad nightmare.

Quami Ekta Week: a relief to recent events

Quami Ekta Week: a relief to recent events

Quami Ekta Week (National Integration Week) is to begin from today (Nov 19-25), and Home Minister Shivraj Patil has written to different Ministries under Government of India for organsing programmes/events fitting the occasion.
Every year is observed with a view to fostering and re-inforcing the spirit of communal harmony, national integration and pride in our vibrant composite culture and nationhood.

In a press release issued by Ministry of Home affairs it was said that several programmes, with a specific theme on each of the seven days, will be held during this week. Meetings, symposia, seminars, special literary functions, cultural functions and programmes would be organized to highlight themes under focus. The week would begin with National Integration Pledge. National Integration, Welfare of Minorities, Linguistic Harmony, Weaker Section, Cultural Unity and Environment Conservation are the themes for the week and activities related to a specific theme would be under focus on each day.

This ‘special week’ seems to be coming at a very strategic time this year, as the recent developments in various parts of the country have shaken a considerable faith of people in the idea of ‘ekta or integration’. It seems that there is a need to take all possible measures for dissemination and reaffirmation of these values among all sections of our people.

Social Networking: Beyond Personal Space

Social Networking sites do more than just connecting you to your old and new friends, exposing you to dangers of privacy in personal space, and opening avenues to a number of cyber crimes; these sites now help you in your career side too. Communities created on sites like ‘Orkut’ and ‘Pagalguy.com’, etc now help you to crack exams, answer your queries related to choices of courses, colleges and specializations, etc. communities like “crack CAT exams” etc have been of great help to many CAT aspirants, who are now able to put up questions to a wider audience and receive answers from diverse perspectives. Also those who have cleared the exams before or are practicing professionals from the field are able to guide these aspirants quite successfully.

Students from various fields, courses, colleges, create communities where perspective student can get in touch with experienced seniors and seek their advice. These sites give an informal yet impersonal space for interaction among seniors and juniors of institutes.
Often professors and instructors drop-by on these sites in order to interact with their students in a more personalized environment and even take up questions and queries of aspirants and perspective students.

I know that most of us might have used the social networking websites to connect with our seniors and college at an interpersonal level, when we were planning to enter any new college. It not only helped us in cracking the entrance exams, and in understanding the college and the course better, but also in contacting our seniors (for notes and guidance).

So next time you wish to give the social networking site a pass as another interference with personal space, then remember that it goes much beyond that. Social networking helps you in making informed decisions on your career and other choices. They help you in preparing to crack important exams and move to a professional space.

Winning hearts with sensationalism??

So what is Indian television trying to go for at present? By the look of it I would say its just TRP everyone is after and creating sensationalism to attract viewers. Well ok fine so nothing wrong with that, after all we are all in game of earning profits only…no one creats a channel to incur losses. But does this give them a right to compromise on the content and its packaging?
Entertainment channels have often been criticized off and on for their lack of content and increasing doses of ‘saas-bahu’ operas. Recently even Indian news channels also joined the bandwagon of entertainment. Thus the news channels are increasing the entertainment content on the ‘Idiot Box’. The fight for viewership and advertisements is very literally tooth and nail for Indian news channels.
We, the people have so been dumped with the content of TV programs and of ‘breaking news’ and ‘exclusives on news channels that our mind often fails to detach one from the other.
Where else did we thought that we would believe in aliens abducting humans…where else could we have seen so much blood and gore being glorified for TRPs… where else do we hear the question “aapko kaisa lagg raha hai” for each and every situation, no matter how grave or happy… where else could we see political and regional and religious camps being formed.
Yes, at present this and a lot more is what the India News industry is leading to.

The new God Cult on Indian Entertainment Channels

Well god are the newest entry to channel rivalries, no I m not talking about viiting temples or astrology sessions before shows. This time god is been packaged off in form of content on almost all of the major channels. We have ‘Jai Ma Vaishno Devi’ on 9X, ‘mata ki Chowki’ on Sahara, etc.
It’s like one channel decided to TV a new genre on viewers and all the others caught-on to mint the gold in this. Though there have been certain off and on attempts by channels before to cash in on such concepts before but this the major attraction is sale of God for TRPs and viewership, which is no less than a cult following. India has always bee a very religious land, and television has always been a major escape from reality and to entertainment. Now the channels have got their Midas touch by combining the two for its viewers. But well gimmick or no gimmick, no one complains as finally we are getting some quality content on TV.
Recently NDTV imagine launched there new campains to promote their show “Ramayan”. The TVC shows how present day TV content has taken its toll on our younger generation’ values and morals and then comes in “Ramayan”- ek acchi aadat.
Well though I know that the campaign is just a way to woo the audience emotions yet what it showcases is infact a situation based in our real life situations. So if the channel’s gold digging attempt is actually able to inculcate some’Acchi Aadat’ in the younger generation of the country then we don’t mind thee overdosage of such programs on the television.

Media- Industry or Profession? Both?

Being a journalism student, we often sit in classes and read about media ethics and responsibility and other such ‘heavy duty’ words. And well for most of us these set the general precedent of entering the field of media and journalism. We come here with certain “aadarsh” and hard head- strong ideas…. like to bring out the truth and help the society and its people. But well often we see the direction in which this field is heading to especially since the advent of the ideas like- 24 hour news channels, breaking news and sting operations, etc. at 1st these brought a very positive energy and light into the field. However, slowly and steadily, the positivism started to ward off and this became a mere game of TRPs, viwership and advertisements. Sensationalisation and yellow journalism became the new set of rules here to achieve success. In our classes, we often have guest faculty who are eminent personalities from the media industry coming in and talking to us about the ‘on the job’ scene and media as a profession as well as an industry. We often get into the discussion of what is ‘ethical’ and what content is considered as for public good and welfare, etc. Even amongst ourselves when we get into a discussion on the same issue. We get stuck on one point- if we are working in an organisation and we are asked by our editor to cover a story that we know is a mere mean of sensationalism and only for TRPs then what will we do. Will we be ready to get sacked and easily replaced for refusing on a bout of consciousness or go ahead and do what is asked because the editor asks us to do so?
I do not know about others but an honest confession that I would like to make here is that I would go ahead and cover the story. A bout of consciousness will not get me very far in this “media industry.” Here I am quite replenishable until and unless I niche a position or status for myself that is hard to be fulfilled or replaced. With a media institute at every nook and corner of the country and fresh batch of students passing out almost every month, it will not be difficult for any media organization to fill up a vacancy in less than a fraction of seconds (literally).What should I follow the profession or the industry? I guess following the profession in the industry is a case for lucky few only. The only thing that is left in this field are people who are trying to make industries out this profession.

IPL MANIA: PRESPECTIVE ON DILEMMA OF A ‘FAN’.

Suddenly I realize what dilemma I’m caught up in…n all thanx 2 IPL frenzied country of ours. Well not tht I m a cricket buff- no…believe me, but wid d entire country,& y go so far, even my family and frnds r going ga-ga over this IPL Fever.
I m being forced into all this just so as to be a part of d crowd. But that’s not even my real dilemma. My real point is what sud I support in IPL…cricketer? Teams? Or celebrities?
Mixing of all these 3 is making it all go haywire 4 me.
See normal cricket I get…one-days and test matches n even 20-20s.
But aren’t v all alrdy so divided in name of cricket- national team, international teams, this cricketer or that one, etc. then I don’t get it y would 1 like to bring in more elements in this gap?
Well in this IPL, even further divided is d fact that here even cricketer taking part r a mix of national & international stars. Teams r being owned by either bollywood celebrities or big business magnets. Even bollywood stars r going in different directions to provide support (as brand ambassadors) for either their hometown teams or their friend’s teams.
IPL mania is catching up like a fire in d jungle. Save yourself from dis alignment, is all I can think of as of now. So far, it is the inspiration drawn from d ‘non-alignment movement’ initiated by certain developing and underdeveloped countries of d wrld, during the time of Cold War. This solution is appealing to me d most 2 save myself from these dilemmas.

Whom should I follow…
Cricketers- national or international hotties that I love 2 see(rather stare at…hehehe)?
Teams- my hometown team or the teams of the place where I earn my livelihood (gladly 4 me both r one…but this can b a question 4 others, I guess) or one that my favorite stars own.
Or Bollywood?

Like I would now cite my example here.
Home team- Delhi- Delhi daredevils.
Favorite star- SRK- his team Kolkata Knight Riders.
Now which should I support being an ok-ok fan or cricket but a a great lover of Delhi and also of bollywood as well.
Where should, or rather where do, my ‘loyalties’ lie in such scenario.

Delhi daredevil or Knight Riders?
Akshay kumar or SRK?
Sehewag or Ganguly?

Mumbai Indians or Kings XI?
Ambani or Priety Zinta?
Dhoni or Yuvraj?
Bollywood or Bhangra?

Why do I still ask…..its all IPL.

Indian T.V. strengthening stereotypical hierarchies

Soap operas of Indian TV have been playing a major role in promoting stereotypical patriarchal ideas in our society. Whether it is subjugation of women, or idea of women as ‘perfect’ housewives or even presenting women as soft targets for crime of various nature; TV has played its role successfully in all this.

Serials project the ‘so-called’ stereotypical image of traditional women to its audience that then restrengthens these stereotypes in their minds. Totally, house confined tulsi’s and parvati’s without any individuality and who face all the acts of their family members by being mere voiceless entities. Without individuality, is what is now being the most favored attribute that people wish to inculcate in their daughters and daughter-in-laws. Idealism is being reset at so high altitude and the representation is set so much in past that it ends up confusing the people and in turn forces them to accept these images as a part of their living.

India is a country that believes in holding not only its traditions and rich culture but also holding the ‘almost-patriarchal’ stereotypical norms that are attached to it. In such a situation, if TV upholds such ideas further then it is not fair for the ‘new-age’ Indian women who wish to break beyond the bounds of these patriarchal hierarchies.


Shows that show women as soft targets of crimes at home and outside thus give rebirth to the ideas of patriarchy at all phases in society. Crimes like rape, dowry harassments, and molestations and even show various ways and through various arguments with which women are stripped out of their identity and dignity repeatedly.

What is even more shocking is the fact that these shows more than often use women itself to propagate the stereotypes that are typically not in favor of women.
Soap-operas and tear jerker like “kunki..” and “kahanni...”; and even so called different stories like “kasam se”, “betiyaan”, “saat phere”, “parayadhan” and “doli saja ke”, or any other for that matter have same environment that believes in subjugating and suffocating its women in the confines of the four-walls of the house and even women who hold this to be their life of freedom.
Even when shows project women who are career oriented the story itself after 2-3 turns and twists comes back to the same old ‘saas-bahu’ drama.

Well so is the scope of Indian television for now but all that is left to speculate is its future trends, will those in any way be able to offer any ‘change’ for real?

Arrival of new directors, small budget movies and the multiplex phenomena.

The most hyped about multiplex phenomenon is here to stay and now along with economic importance it is showing certain amount of unification with society and culture as well. The place that earlier came up as the pilgrim’s ground for luxury shop-holics has now added a new dimension to entertainment for moviegoers. The contagious phenomenon of multiplex cinema halls has turned to benefit of one and all—viewers, new directors, small budget films, and experimental movies.

The hectic life of 9-9 economic scenario has given a lot to be demanded by the new young age working generation. The new pace is hard to cope up with and the multiplex culture offers a certain amount of relief to the overworked generation of present.
It provides them with relief from all that trouble that earlier went in catching a movie for mere relaxation. No more long crowded booking counters, no more disappointments of houseful, etc. with multiple movie going on in the same complex in different halls allow people to catch a movie anytime.

The multiplex concept has made it easier for small budgeted movies to make their presence felt among the audience. Movies like “Khosla ka Ghosla,” “Mixed Doubles” and “Bheja Fry,” etc. have been able to not only make a mark with the audience but at the box office as well.
The multiplex culture has ensured constant movement of audience towards such movies as well that earlier would had been left with no takers. This has also helped in the distribution of small budgeted films as the distributors and producers are no longer unsure of film reach, impact and box office collections. As a matter of fact in the past one or two years it has been observed that these small budgeted movies have done much better job with audience reactions in comparison to big-bucks Magnus-operas.
These movies too have done their share in making such impact on the audience. These films offer a pleasant escape to the audience which otherwise had been over fed with the doses of pulp-fictionalized reality of the tear jerking magnum operas.

The new category of movies presents humor, fiction, reality all at the same time yet distinction between each is never blurred which provides the well needed relief to the overworked generation of the age.

This multiplex phenomenon has also encouraged new directors and filmmakers to give reality to their visions. It has given them a sense of security in terms of audience and that it has left them with enough choice to experiment on their work. It has also made producers and distributors more confident in financing and distributing movies of new names and of new genres.
This has also helped the filmmakers to experiment on new genres and the multiplex culture has given a new way to art/ parallel cinema. Movies like “Maine Gandhi ko Nahi Maara”, “Khamosh Pani”, “Haazaron Khawaishein Aisi” and “Haazar Churasi Ki Maa,” etc. have caught audience fancy and thus made the experimental efforts of the directors successful.

Thus we see how the economic ground of multiplex provided opportunities for development and reflection on society and culture.

South Indian flavor missing from the Indian TV platter

Just as on urban Indian television rural India is very minimally represented similarly in Indian news, especially on national news channels, southern India is presented very marginally.
Music shows never concentrate on d south, Class 12 topper from north gets 9 o'clock headlines, but from south he/she gets a brief interview.
Several reasons go into this…and well I may or may not be correct in my observation.

Firstly, the language barrier keeps southern states separated from rest of the country. Since Hindi is the national language and most of the news channels have Hindi version they probably concentrate on the Hindi-speaking sector. Recently one of my friends pointed out to me that in d latest television show “antakshri”(star one) you can find four Zones representing India and those zones do not include south zone. It includes only north, east, west and Central.
While d shows tagline says “har akshar ki dhun par khelega India” yet somehow southern states are easily omitted, Which makes one wonder if South India belongs to India or not.

This is just one example. India’s 24-hour news channels have just barely an hour or two devoted to news related to the southern belt.

Well I also think that I will not be entirely incorrect if I say that ‘south’ in itself too is a quite secluded community, that like to keep within itself, maintaining their distinctive cultures and traditional roots.

Nevertheless, I think that we too have a hand in that sort of thinking being upheld until now. By ‘we’, I mean the rest of the country and representatives of people. Representatives of southern states themselves do not seem to b making any effort to work on solutions of language and regional barriers and towards bringing ‘south’ closer in the mainstream India.
You know one more interesting thing to ponder on is that in this modernized day n age of global village concept we have become much more closer to foreign countries like U.S.A. and China, etc, than we can ever be to our own southern states.

Well another reason is also d fact that d ‘heartbeat’ of India lies anywhere but in southern India. Like the politics of the country is concentrated in north especially in the national capital of d country Delhi.
Similarly, mumbai and Delhi together become hubs of India’s economy.
Even the hub of India’s biggest movie industry is in Mumbai whereas Delhi plays a very strategically thought of headquarters for all the major news channels of the country.

Bears and bulls, seats, ministries, bollywood, economics, politics, conservatism, ethnic differences, education, growth, and ideas of protecting a pure essence of cultural roots… well according to me all these factors go in seclusion of southern India from the rest of the country.