ETAWAH: The Land of Talents

Etawah, my native place, is a city in the state Uttar Pradesh near Yamuna River. It is a part of a Kanpur Division. Also Etawah is a place of sangam between Yamuna River and Chambal River.  If we go in the history of the city, it was an important center for the Revolt of 1857.

Etawah – Constituency map Uttar Pradesh

Chambal ki Gattis are close to Etawah city, hence it is a notorious city even today. But today I, Anusha Pathak, want all of you to know that my native in not that bad as everyone thinks. Etawah is a land of talents too and here I am presenting few amazing talents of Etawah people.

Ustad Imdad Khan

1.      Ustad Imdad Khan (1848–1920), Instrumental Classical Musician: Even though his father Ustad Sahabdab Khan was the founder of Etawah Gharana, which comes from the most ancient school of music, the Gwalior Gharana, Ustad Imdad Khan was the one who developed the instruments, and created an innovative instrumental style that became characteristic of the Etawah gharana. The gharana is also called as Imdadkhani Gharana.

 Ustad Imdad Khan was born in Agra, but later shifted to Etawah. He was taught by his father Ustad Sahabdab Khan and the legendary beenkar Bande Ali Khan. He had served to kings of Mysore and Indore. He also played for Queen Victoria in Delhi.

In the 19^th century, Senia style was dominating in the instrumental classical music of Northern India. But, Ustad Imdad Khan introduced the element of Khayal gayaki into the alap of the first time. All gayaki ornamentations were implemented and systematically developed into the techniques for this newly developed style for playing sitar.

Ustad Imdad Khan was the first Sitar player to come out with a recording.

Devesh Chauhan

2.      Devesh Singh Chauhan (1980), Hockey Player of India: Devesh Chauhan has born on November 12, 1980 in Etawah. He is a Hockey goalkeeper from India. In early 2000, Devesh Chauhan made his international debut for the Men’s National Team. He represented India twice at the Olympics in 2000 (Sydney Australia) and in 2004 (Athens, Greece) where India finished in seventh place on both the occasions.

 In the year 2001, Champions Challenge for Men was the inaugural tournament of Champions Challenge which held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Devesh Chauhan was the goal keeper of Indian Hockey team at that time. India defeated South Africa by 2-1 in the final to win the competition.

 

Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’

3.      Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’ (1924), Poet and Song Writer: E bhai zara dekh ke chalo song from Mera Naam Joker, would always remind you of Raj Kapoor and Manna Day. But Gopaldas Saxena ‘Neeraj’ (or popularly known as Neeraj as it is his pen name) was the one who wrote the song. Not only this but many songs like O meri Sharmili from Sharmili, Phulon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se from Prem Pujari, both sung by Shri Kishore Kumar. Rangeela re from Prem Pujari sung by Lata Mangeshkarji, Mera man tera pyasaa from Gambler sung by Mohammed Rafi and many more.

 ‘Neeraj’ji is among the best known poets and authors in Hindi literature. He is also famous poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan. He has many collections i.e., “Neeraj ki Paati”, “Baadlon se Salaaam Leta Hoon”, “Geet jo Gaye Nahi” etc.

He was born on January 4, 1924 in the small village Ekdil of Etawah. His style is easy to understand but is compared with high quality Hindi literature. Besides writing he was the Professor of Hindi Literature in Aligarh.

In the year 2007, he was awarded Padma Bhushan. Recently in the March of this year 2012, he recited some of his works at Annual Inter-College Cultural festival, Spoculit of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. Nowadays he works as the Chancellor of Mangalayatan University, Aligarh.

Mulayam Singh Yadav

4.      Mulayam Singh Yadav (1939), Ex-Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh: Mulayan Singh Yadav is an Indian politician, head of Samajwadi Party (SP) from Uttar Pradesh. He was born on November 22, 1939 in the village Saifai of Etawah. He did his education from different colleges of Uttar Pradesh like K. K College, Etawah, A. K. College, Shikohabad and B. R. College, Agra University.

 He was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice from 1989-1991, 1993-1995 and 2003-2007. He also served as Minister of Defence (1996-1998) in the United Front government.  His supporters call him Netajee and Dhartiputra. Mulayam Singh is a dedicated follower of Indian socialist leaders like Raj Narain and Ram Manohar Lohia.

Now his son Akhilesh Yadav (1973), who was also born in Saifai village, is Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He took his primary education from Saint Mary School, Etawah.

 

K. Asif

5.      K. Asif (1922-1971), Film Director: Asif Karim was born on June 14, 1922 in Etawah. He was a film director, film producer and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work for the epic Hindi movie Mughal-e-Azam (1960).

Asif Karim went to Bombay to his brother-in-law Nazir Ahmed Khan and later took the name K. Asif. His directorial debut was Phool (1945), with a star cast of Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote and Suraiya, which did well on box-office. Later he came up with the Mughal-e-Azam in 1960 with Dilip Kumar and Madhubala, which bagged him the status of legend despite his very few work.

The other film he made was Hulchul in 1951. While shooting on another film Love and God, K. Asif died on March 9, 1971 at the age of 48.

Along with all these eminent personalities and specialties of Etawah, former Indian President, late Dr. Zakir Hussain (February 8, 1897) pursued his school education in H.M.S Islamia Inter College, Etawah which is an epitome of unity and good relations between Hindus and Muslims.

So from all this we can see that Etawah, my native place, a small city of Uttar Pradesh, India, has so much of talent within itself. Etawah has given many prominent personalities to India in different fields like Music, Sports, Literature, Politics, and Films etc.

Hence, I can say even if it is notorious place, thanks to Chambal ke Daakus, it has given me many more reasons to say that I am proud of my native place. I am proud of Etawah.

Anusha Pathak,

TYBMM Journalism,

Sophia College.

Between Gandhi and Hazare: A Stark Contrast

Between Gandhi and Hazare: A stark contrast

“We must become the change we want to see in this world” –Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

“Jo apne liye jite hai vo mar jaate hai,jo samaj ke liye marte hai vo zinda rehte hai” -Anna Hazare

Is Anna Hazare the next Gandhi? Was the anti-corruption movement led by him in 2011 the second Independence movement of India? What were the similarities and differences between Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Kisan Babu Rao Hazare.

 Anna Hazare standing against the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi and Anna Hazare in their youth.

To begin with Mahatma Gandhi graduated to   become a lawyer from The Inner Temple ,London and then went on to work in South Africa. Anna Hazare came to Mumbai for his education. He studied till the seventh grade and then started selling flowers at Dadar station. He was then recruited into the Indian army. He fought the Indo-Pakistan war in 1965.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi and Anna Hazare

Mahatma Gandhi took a vow and became a Brahmachari meaning to practice celibacy. Controlling his will over carnel desires. Hazare on the other hand did not marry and proclaims himself to be celibate.

As far as clothing is concerned Gandhiji wore a white dhoti with a white cloth around his chest. Anna Hazare keeps his clothes limited to a white kurta-pyjama and also wears a Gandhian cap.

Mahatma Gandhi undertook 17 fasts in total of which 3 were major fasts unto death. His objective to undertake such fasts was to reform the mass and to unite them. Gandhiji never threatened the British government saying that he would end his life if a specific law wasn’t passed or a particular request was not fulfilled.

Though on the contrary Anna Hazare’s objective was also to unite people but to extract specific consessions from the government.His fasts unto death were more like ‘if we die in protest, our followers will turn violent and attack the government”. It is inherently violence, at the end of the day.

Gandhiji’s principles of Non-Violence and Satyagragh inspired eminent personalities like Martin Luther King , Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, John Lennon and Barack Obama including Hazare. Though Anna also calls his anti-corruption movement in 2011 as non-violent, his means to attain certain objectives is questionable.

When Anna Hazare shifted to Ralegaon-Siddhi he found the village in acute poverty with poor ecological balance, scant infrastructure and practically no order. He is credited with the progress and success of the village.His contributions to the town in terms of better irrigation facilities, employment rate, abolition of alcohol , encouraging the role of gram sabha and addressing caste related issues are noteworthy.  He transformed the village entirely. It was then that he was given the title Anna meaning an ‘elder brother’.

The abolition of alcohol in Ralegaon-Siddhi saw some revolt from the residents of the village. After the ban was put if a person was found drinking or found in a drunk state , after giving the person repetitive warnings if he still indulges in the same act he will be tied to a pole in the temple and flogged, sometimes by Hazare himself.When questioned as to why he thinks that this was the right way to bring change he says that, “Rural India is a harsh society,if you want change, it’s sometimes necessary to be tough”.

Though on the other hand Gandhiji withdrew the non-cooperation movement after a single incident of the violence at Chauri-Chaura.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi and Anna Hazare delivering respective speeches.

Though all of Gandhiji’s protests were to gain Independence form the British Raj, he never considered them as enemies. The British openly accused him of being their enemy. But Gandhiji considered the Britishers as their friends and said that they should be respected.

Whereas Anna Hazare was protesting for a separate Jan Lokpal Bill because he was unhappy with the way the government was functioning. Scam after scam was being unravelled and the UPA-II was not able to hold its ground. Anna Hazare called the government deceitful and untrustworthy. He says, “Why are you (government) sending the wrong draft? We have faith in Parliament. But first send the right draft, our agitation is against government, not Parliament. The government has overlooked many points.

How will it fight corruption by excluding government employees, CBI and prime minister from the Lokpal’s purview? We were told that both the drafts would be sent to the Cabinet. But only the government’s draft was sent. This is a deceitful government. They are lying. How will they run the country? Now I have no trust in this government. If it is really serious about fighting corruption, why is it not bringing government employees and CBI under Lokpal?

These were some of the stark differences and similarities of the two personalities. Now it is upon us to decide whether one was as great as the other or one merely drew inspiration from the other.

Political trends in India

If we analyze the prevailing trend in Indian democracy, we find that on the one hand electoral process has raised the level of political awareness and on the other hand it has also increased the misuse of electoral process by political parties for their vested interests. Winning an election has become the sole aim of political parties. In order to win election, political parties completely compromise with values, ethics and morality which used to be associated with it. In this process, they fail to realize that they have larger national responsibility as well. The kind of tactics applied by political parties for winning an election has promoted castes, communalism, regionalism, and above all use of money and  hooliganism leading to criminalization of politics.

It has eroded the base of Indian politics. No political party is ready to discuss this issue that what should be done to do away with such malpractices. Even, Indian public too cannot escape from its responsibility as they are electing people who are of no credible backgrounds. The lust for power has led to denigration of values.

Conducting free and fair election is the responsibility of the Election Commission and it has been working hard to live up to its duty. Due to the effort of the commission, electoral violence, misuse of money, bogus voting have been substantially reduced. The oppressed and deprived section of our population who could not even dare to go to polling booth, are electing their representative without any fear. However, one still cannot say that in India, free and fair election has been totally established.

In Indian political party’s gains power through competitive electoral battle. In order to win election, political parties, indulge in all sorts of cheap tricks like arousing passion in the name of caste, region, religion etc.

Over the years, one finds a marked change in the way party system operates in India.The party system is now said to be moving from a one party dominance system to a multi-party competition. One party dominance has been replaced by coalition government. It has led to the emergence of regional centres of power. Regional political parties are playing very crucial role in the national politics.

In post 1989 period we observe a new trend towards regionalization of Indian politics. It has also brought those into the spotlight of Indian politics, who were left on the periphery.

In fact, regional parties have emerged in Indian politics in large numbers in recent years. However barring few states, they have not brought about substantial change and in many states, state governments were replaced by national parties. However some regional governments like the one in Bihar and Orissa have shown commitment.

In India, party system has covered a long journey from one party dominance to coalition government. Coalition governments, are generally associated with instability, unnecessary delay and also associated a lot with corruption. Recent examples of it are:

1. The 2g scam was allowed to happen to maintain or rather save the coalition government of united progressive alliance.
2. A lingayat leader was appointed the Chief Minister of Karnataka because of the arm twisting tactics applied by B. S. Yedurappa on the Bhartiya Janata Party.

Change is imminent in party system and the Indian democracy is bound to go through this.

s.  tanuja surendra

ty.bmm

sophia college

Reputation more important than Lives?

I have always thought of an individual’s life to be of greater importance than reputation. But is that everyone else’s thinking as well?

In the year 2002, a friend of mine, was coming back home from a funeral when a car rammed into her car. The impact of the accident was so great that her cousin brother was thrown out from the back window onto the road and died on the spot, while the four other family members were critically injured. The mother of the boy died eventually of a heart attack, after learning about the death of her son. The man responsible for the accident did not want this issue to come into light and offered her father Rs. 25 Lakh to keep his mouth shut and close the case. The devastated man replied, “I will take the money on one condition, bring back my nephew and sister-in-law.” He decided to fight for justice, but unfortunately all the evidence had been wiped away. Medical reports went missing, reports against the accused disappeared. Since there was no evidence and many others chose to remain tight lipped about it. The case is still in court with no outcome, yet! Justice Delayed! Reason? The man was the grandson of a famous politician and he had to keep up with the reputation that his family had. He couldn’t be called a culprit. Hence all the evidences against him were taken care of.

The girl’s father was not someone who did not know how to go about it, how to get justice. He had done it before. He was a lawyer. He fought for other people and still he could not get justice for himself, for his family members who lost their lives due to a rich-reckless driver, who had power to back him.

This is just one incident, that I am aware of, there may be so many others happening every now and then. Incidents where lives are not given importance and weighed with money. It is like putting a person’s life on the same platter as business. Souls sold for money. With incidents like these coming up, it makes me wonder whether I have thought of it in a reasonable way. In India, many families kill a girl child, because she is a girl. The family’s reputation is considered to fall down for this reason, hence the murder. Young boys are killed. Why? Because he fell in love and chose not to marry a girl of his family’s choice. This may tarnish the reputation of the family. A valid question that people should ask is, ‘Is Reputation of that great importance and so essential in a person’s life or for a family that an individual’s life is of no importance at all?’

Alice Peter,

TYBMM Journalism,

Sophia College for Women, Mumbai

photo courtesy: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=injustice+symbol&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1241&bih=593&tbm=isch&tbnid=pl7V4luwR6NurM:&imgrefurl=http://www.clipartof.com/interior_wall_decor/details/Brass-Scales-Of-Justice-Off-Balance-Symbolizing-Injustice-Poster-Art-Print-15110&imgurl=http://images.clipartof.com/small/15108-Brass-Scales-Of-Justice-Off-Balance-Symbolizing-Injustice-Over-White-Poster-Art-Print.jpg&w=450&h=380&ei=KfI8UPO5OIPorQfM64HwAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=468&sig=114901159961305371548&page=1&tbnh=122&tbnw=144&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:79&tx=109&ty=33

Mumbai and Politics

I believe that three things which drive Mumbai are its Nightlife, which I think is vanishing now; thanks to ACP Vasant Dhoble, Crime, and Politics.

In Rohit Shetty’s film Singham, there is a dialogue “Yahan politics main system ho ya na ho, lekin system main politics jaroor hota hai”. We can refer Yahan as Mumbai (in fact India, but let’s narrow it down to Mumbai).

Before Independence:

Let us start with an era when there was British rule in India. Bombay and Politics are intertwined since 1885. The first session of the National Congress Party was held in Bombay from 28–31 December 1885. During the first fifty years, it held six sessions of National Congress Party. Later during the 20^th century it became a strong base for the Indian independence movement.

After Independence:

After Independence, in 1960s Bombay saw the rise of regional parties. On 19 June 1966, Shiv Sena party was formed which headed a campaign to expel South Indian and North Indians migrants forcefully. From Independence until the early 1980s, the Congress had dominated the politics of Bombay, but in 1985 Shiv Sena won the Bombay municipal corporation elections.

Different parties in Bombay/Mumbai:

To remove the Congress in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major national political party, in 1989, formed an alliance with the Shiv Sena. In 1999, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) separated from the Congress, but later allied with the Congress, to form a joint venture known as the Democratic Front.  Currently, other parties such as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and several independent candidates also contest elections in the city.

Parties those are very prominent in Mumbai are-

1. Indian National Congress: It is a major political party in founded in Bombay in 1885. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition headed by Sonia Gandhi.
2. Shiv Sena (SS): It is aright-wing Hindu party, formed on 19 June 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray.
3. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): On 25th May 1999, Sharad Pawar, Shri P. A. Sangma and Shri Tariq Anwar and other hundreds of their political supporters decided to form this new Political Party. Sharad Pawar was elected President.
4. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS): Raj Thackeray left the Shiv Sena in December 2005 and formed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in March 2006. He is a nephew of Bal Thackeray. Like his uncle, Raj Thackeray also headed a campaign to expel North Indian migrants by force.

In the Indian national elections held every five years, Mumbai is represented by six parliamentary constituencies: Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central, and Mumbai South. A Member of Parliament (MP) to the Lok Sabha, is elected from each of the parliamentary constituencies.

In the Maharashtra state assembly elections which are held every five years, Mumbai is represented by 36 assembly constituencies. A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, is elected from each of the assembly constituencies.

Along with this, elections are also held every five years to elect corporators in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The Corporation comprises 227 directly elected Councillors representing the 24 municipal wards, five nominated Councillors having special knowledge or experience in municipal administration, and a Mayor. The tenure of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Municipal Commissioner is two and a half years.

Since there are many parties who wants to rule on Mumbai, there are always some or the other disputes. One party having rally for some reason then other one organising a rally for other. The only thing parties believe in is how to manipulate common person and create vote bank. It is said that Mumbai is a favorite place for terrorists and attackers. Mumbai is the financial capital of India. The politics in Mumbai has a great influence on the politics at the national level.

If financial capital is not in a good state, then obvious it will affect the whole country. But it is spirit of Mumbaikars who runs it. (I sometime doubts, it’s a spirit of Mumbaikar or the majboori.) Unfortunately there is politics everywhere, not in terms of political parties only but in a way Mumbai works, which corrupts the system. Hence whenever we hear of word ‘Politics’ most of us make faces and say ye toh gutter hai, saaf karne jayenge toh khud ke haath gande honge.

 

– Anusha Pathak,

TYBMM

Sophia College

RAJ THACKERAY

RAJ  THACKERAY

Raj  Thackeray,  the nephew of Bal Thackeray , Shiv Sena chief, is the founder president of the Marathi  regional political party, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. From the time his party has been created he always opposed the migration of people from North India. He is against the immigrants especially from the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. According to him migration of the people to Maharashtra leads to corruption, bad governance, high crime rates, unemployment due to which the migration the politician from other states have gained power  over Maharashtra.

Raj Thackeray was influenced by his uncle Bal Thackeray. He started the Shiv Udyog Sena in 1977. Raj Thackeray along with his party, is always supportive to the people of Maharashtra.

He had many controversies like Acquittal in Kini murder case, Kohinoor mill controversy, 2011 Attacks on Auto Drivers Against Jet Airways layoffs, Insistence on Marathi signboards for Mumbai shops etc.

Due to the killing of Muslims in Myanmar and Assam, the Muslim organisations including the Raza academy held a protest against the killing of Muslims on the 11^th of August. The protest turned to a violent one.  There was chaos in the city. People lost their lives. And many were injured. The media was attacked. Many media vehicles were burnt. People were tortured. Many policemen were injured.

For the protest of the 11^th August violent act, Raj Thackeray and his team decided to take a peaceful  rally from Girgaum Chowppaty to Azad Maidan. The rally was a peaceful one. It was a  5 km procession. After the procession, he gave a speech in which he demanded resignation of the home minister  R.R. Patil and the Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik.  The crowd for the rally from Girgaum to Azad Maidan had nearly  fifteen thousand people..

In his speech he targeted home minister, RR Patil and Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik, he said, “”All I want to tell RR Patil and Arup Patnaik is that if there’s even a little bit of shame left in you, come forward and resign”.

He said, “ I will not tolerate any attack on the policemen no matter people from which religion do it. This march is not for Hindutva but to boost the morale of the police”.

The rally by Raj Thackeray at the end of the day was a peaceful one and the city was finally relaxed. Hoping there were no problems further!

 I believe that if the rally is a peaceful one and does not cause any chaos in the city there should not be any problem.  The peaceful rally should not be changed to a violent one. As people all over the city are affected.  If the rallies are meant to be peaceful they should not be turned to violent acts.  The organisations should not cross the limits. The organisations holding the rally should see to it that opposition or the members of the opposition should not be abused and they should put their stance in a good and decent way. The general masses should go unhampered.

TYBMM

NAKITA VADASSERY

Ramdev Baba, Kya karte ho aap?

Few years ago, a thin man in sadhu attire, taught people how to recover from diseases. He soon became the favourite of all because he helped people in recovering from physical problems, which amazingly doctors could not. Then he became the miracle Baba. Yogasan became popular in India once again. Every day in the morning, you could hear only one voice coming out of the TV, obviously of Baba. Benefits of his yoga was suddenly seen as if yoga was not there in India before and people were unacquainted of the benefits of yoga.

After a while, he started influencing public opinion: his opinion became the opinion of the people. He commented on every possible thing, from cold drinks to Bollywood female actors, from beauty products to Politics. In a way, one can say that he covered almost all the issues, from Kanya Kumari to Vaishno Devi.  Moreover, one should not forget that he created issues for himself sometimes. He became the center of attraction not only for those who were following him but also for teenagers as he became the reason for daily bashing from the parents.

Pranayam, Anulom-vilom, Kapaal Bharti became his tools for what he is today but the only difference between then and now is , he is no more associated with these tools .

He enlightened people with his thoughts, informed them that Pepsi, Coca-cola Thumps Up can also be used for cleaning toilets but he forget to tell us that soft drinks like Mountain Due, Sprite and 7UP can also be used in case of acidity. Likewise, he expressed his views on how useless beauty products are. While these meaningful classes were going on; Baba came with the idea of Patanjali Stores, a place where you could get rid of your problems. He opened these stores in various cities of India, where one could buy Ayurvedic medicines ideated by him or made under his supervision. How nice of him to think so much about all of us? He then became a successful businessperson. Agenda behind his comments were clear but not understood by the media and taken into consideration.

When we as audience were bored and our focus shifted to something spicier than him. Baba thought of becoming a Mahatma. He thought of combating India’s most common problem, widely known as Corruption. However, instead of becoming a Mahatma, he became a fighter. A fighter who ran away from the stage, jumped in the most macho stance ever done by any actor in Hollywood or Bollywood and finally ended up wearing women attire so that he could escape the Police.

He was hurt so badly after jumping from the stage that he thought it is good to be silent for a while. Well his intelligence did not stay for long. Recently he claimed that all politicians are corrupt in India and asked to bring back all the black money from Swiss Bank.

In democracy, it is good to be critical and constitution gives you the right to freedom of speech and expression. Nevertheless, the question is what impression we as Indian leave on the world about India that all are leaders are corrupt. He is connected to Yogasan that is considered sacred in this country but it does not mean that you can do whatever you wish to.

 

Unnati Maharudra

TYBMM

 

 

For a Change

In a decent conversation with a friend on what could be the positive effects of media I realized that well, there were certain things which could be done. I had already learnt about ‘Kafila’ , and the rest in my class lectures, but they are not something which would be read by large numbers it was only connecting for the intellect class. I was looking for something which attract the individuals in large numbers as they are the ‘Jon Doe’ and ‘Jane Doe’ which is targeted by the main stream media.
Just going over ‘Facebook’ with the thought running in my head, I decided to find out if there are any prevalent efforts to bring about this change. We all know how Facebook works; posts, links, pages groups etcetera have become interesting over a year and have become popular. As going through the newsfeed I found this one image which made me scroll up the screen. It was a cartoon picture, it made me smile instantly, it was a comment in a satirical manner comment on the existing political state. The picture had a huge pink mother-pig, feeding her five piglets.

The word ‘Financial industry’ was etched on the on mother pig and ‘Congress’ etched on the piglets. These were human piglets accompanied by a formal briefcase behind them which had ‘Reform’ written on it. It was straight ‘matter of fact’ statement made by the artiste. As I followed the page, it became evident that they were talking about the change I wanted to see. The page is called, ‘Anonymous ART of Revolution’ and yet again the same old curiosity kicked in. as flexible as they are with the being open and sensitive to the need for the required change, they are as easily approachable. When contacted, they explained the whole idea behind their page and the ideas they wanted to express. In a very Simple statement they explain the entire concept of their page, “For every action there is a consequence and anonymous is the consequence against the greed!” They also believe that all the alternative media is nowadays one, the Internet is in the hands of people like us all and we can choose to make a difference to release information and create awareness. They work as an organized group dedicated to the masses and they target each and everyone to who can understand what they want to express. In order to maintain anonymity and to show a common face, interestingly they have used the mask. You can recognize the mask easily as it is the one used in the movie V for Vendetta. They further clarify that they are not the only ones, as they do associate with other pages. There are others who are working equally hard.

Another page which is doing similar work is ‘GotStared.At’ It’s a page which brings the issue of women sexual harassment’ in the open. It targets the wrongs which happen to women and how the society keeps feeding on these wrongs. The page admin when contacted willingly explained their idea by saying that they, “We want people to be able to talk rationally about everything under the sun. Right now, the talks surrounding these sensitive issues are pretty much under the covers, and hushed. This is what incites fear into peoples’ minds. We want that fear to go away. We want rape survivors to not feel ashamed about coming out and admitting that they have been raped, thereby taking away the power from the rapist.” In order to reach to a younger audience in a colloquial manner, they have images like

Though I still believe social media can’t be the only medium to inform the masses, I think these are some of the steps responsible citizens have taken. Their efforts should be considered and the word should spread around. The social media mediums especially in countries like India can be a medium to unite the classes and make them aware about the need for change. This specific class is already involved in social media. They can influence that specific class all over the world. It can create a social awareness on issues like women harassment, corporate ownership, the over powering government, the environmental issues etcetera. The element of individuality can be maintained and showcased under anonymity. It can play an important part when dealing with visual illustrations (referring to the cartoons which were criticized by the Indian political leaders and parties). These groups can target both global and local audiences, picking up issues over different news media and which are not in the vested interest of the mainstream media.
It’s only these steps which make a stairway to heaven.
The links for these pages :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anonymous-ART-of-Revolution/362231420471759
http://www.facebook.com/gotstared

By: TYBMM Journo
(Puneet)

Politics over Diwali

Political parties began their war to lure the voters for the BMC election by placing lamps.

In 2011, during the Diwali festival, the ‘Saffron party’ – Shiv Sena party and the ‘Marathi Manus party’ – Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party played Politics over Diwali. They began their war to lure the voters as the BMC election was about to occur within three months. Both these parties had placed their lamps all around Mumbai, wishing everyone a Very Happy Diwali.

Speaking about the Shiv Sena Party, they had placed an orange coloured lamp with their respective Branch Head person’s name printed on it, whereas, on the other hand, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had placed a bigger, multicoloured lamp with Rajasaheb Thackeray’s name printed on it. All the lamps of both the respective political parties had got their party logo printed on it.

When I noticed the lamps placed by both these political parties on every corner on the streets of Mumbai, I wondered how much have had been spent on these lamps by both these political parties. Out of curiosity, to understand the politics over Diwali, I asked, Tushar Wadekar, a 26 year-old hawker who was selling the lamps on the streets of Dadar that what would be the cost of each of these lamps that were placed on the streets on Mumbai by both of these political parties? He said “Since the Shiv Sena party’s lamp is smaller compared to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party’s lamp, it might have cost the Shiv Sena approximate Rs. 5000 per lamp, whereas, on the other hand, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party’s lamps would have had cost them Rs.1000 more than the Shiv Sena party.” It seemed like a huge amount of money had been spent on the individual lamps to attract voters. Instead of spending so much money on the individual lamps, they could have had used it for a better purpose.

Hours later, I wanted to know what the common people think about this entire issue on Politics over Diwali.  I decided to walk on the streets of Mumbai and ask some random people about the Politics over Diwali. I asked few random people on whether these two political parties are trying to lure the voters for BMC Elections. Majority of the people had noticed the lamps which were placed by both the political parties but they never thought about it as a political ideology.  They thought that both the parties are trying to lighten the streets with their lamps because of the Diwali festival.  On the other hand, very few people who hold their interest in Politics thought about the political agenda that both these parties have had been carrying a political agenda by placing the lamps all over the streets of Mumbai. Sumit Roy, 19-year-old student at K.P.B. Hinduja College said “Yes, they are trying to attract voters as winning the BMC elections is important for them. If they win the election, they tend to gain control over Mumbai and emerge as a power in the next Vidhaan Sabha elections.” I was shocked the way this guy had connected the importance of winning the BMC elections with the Vidhaan Sabha elections. In addition, Nakita Vadassery- a resident of Andheri said, “Both these political parties want to win and gain people’s sympathy. Both are using different strategy to gain maximum votes for their party for the upcoming BMC elections.”

The strategy used by both the political parties over the Diwali to win the BMC elections was unnoticed by the majority of the common masses. This showed how easy it is for the political parties to deceive the common masses or how dim-witted people are to understand the political agenda of both these parties.

Ruchi Nandu- T.Y.BMM