Unpaid internships should be boycotted

Hi guys! This, write up (or shout out), is a direct appeal to all the fresh pass outs as well as working students; if you are good at something, never do it for free (a famous quote).

To be honest, my personal experience has been, a little, agonizing, working as an intern. I worked for a multinational media firm for 1 & ½ months (45 days) to be exact, for free, not a single penny guys! I realized (thanks god I did), they should have paid me something, at least traveling should be considered, but nothing as such happened.

I even spoke to the seniors working over there but found no help. Then I took the matter to the head, but was denied any explanation for this routine. Finally, I decided to leave them, and I am sure they must have hired some other intern for free. This incident was back in 2012.

Thereafter, I decided I wouldn’t work for free for anyone (except for my friends ;) ) and since have stood by my word. I refused any opportunity that was provided to me in exchange of no-money-intern. This, unpaid internship, situation has worsened over the years. I strongly believe that this is nothing less than exploitation of the intern.

I know some students, now working, who have worked, as long as, for 18 months without pay in the journalism industry. Isn’t this exploitation in a way?

The situation, especially, is at cataclysm in Mumbai. There are numerous media agencies and they run this unpaid internship thing ‘shamelessly’. Even the multinational media corporations are doing the same. It is even more-heartbreaking that these firms, most of the times; don’t even pay for the intern’s traveling allowance. “Paying stipend” is a complete different story.

The media industry in defense, for unpaid interns, has reasons like, the students are not professionals or in order to learn you have to invest something first or, even to a level, we don’t require you; it is you who is in need of the internship.

They, media houses, are only able to do this because we, interns, don’t speak for ourselves. We don’t have to be scared about the opportunity, first and foremost important thing. If you are good at it, eventually, you would end up getting a decent paying job.

You just start saying ‘no’ to unpaid internships. There are n numbers of opportunities in this growing media-journalism-business. You only have to stand-up for yourself, say no to unpaid internships, at least ask for what you deserve; and deep down somewhere, you know that you deserve better.

And yes, if you are concerned what happened to me when I refused unpaid internship; nothing much to worry, I am still associated with the media business and on a decent pay ;). Quit worrying, stop getting exploited and stand for what is yours. You just have to ask and I am 100% sure asking don’t cost a single penny.

India wins first match in Hockey World Cup 2014

It was India against Malaysia and India won 3-2. From the beginning whistle the Indian team attacked and kept the possession, this helped them scored the goals at regular intervals when needed. Indian managed to penetrate the Malaysian defense 3 times. In the reply, Malaysia gave came up with a 2 goal reply, but was unable to breach the Indian defense more.

From now on in the tournament, India has nothing to lose. Instead they have a bright opportunity to make it to the 7th position, increasing their World Ranking by 1 position up, settling at 7. India should be satisfied with their performance and with this win would have their morals high. But their next match is with the group giants, Australia.

Australia hasn't lost a single match in the tournament so far and has looked strong, both in defense and in attack. Managing a win would be great, but under the circumstances a draw would be fine too. It is a little difficult for India, but with the kind of performance in the tournament so far, Indian players can certainly make the giants worry a little.

This team is young and has a potential of being a great future team. With the leader like Sardar Singh and a experience coach like Terry Walsh, the team is looking to touch new heights. The recent performances before Hockey World Cup 2014 of team India have been impressive. Hope they continue the form and perform their best in coming matches. All the best India.

'TWO' in a row for Indian Hockey team!

Yes, second loss in a row in the Hockey World Cup 2014 for India. Team India looked defensive and were not able to keep the possession in the game against number 4 ranking team England. India lost 2-1. India did not had the possession but were able to keep the shots of the opposition out of the nets.

What was heartbreaking for the Indians, that the English players scored the second goal in the last couple of minutes via a penalty. In this tournament this is the second time that the Indian players were unable to defend the goal in the final seconds of the game. Earlier it was with Belgium, in which India lost 3-2 to Belgium, with the last goal coming in the final 10 seconds.

Ind 1-2 Eng

Image Courtesy - NDTV Sports

Indian team looks balanced but is unable to convert those close calls into a goal. The loss against England have thinned their chances of making it to the top two and going into the semi-finals. But a lot of positives for team India to take. They have managed to play good, they have made their opponents hunt for goals, making it difficult for them to score.

The two things that team India needs to work on in the ahead matches is their attack plan and their last minute defense. India is certainly looking and performing like a team worth playing the world cup. They have come a long way and have showed some good performance. Hopefully, they will be able to finish at a better spot in the tournament. India currently ranks 8 in World Hockey Ranking.

Game lost, but a steady start!

With the first whistle of the match, Belgium started dominating the play with India at the 2014 Hockey World Cup. In doing so, the Belgian players scored their first goal, creating a good pressure on the Indian players, who also rank 8th in the world hockey ranking. Belgium (ranking 5th) continued their play and made sure they were attacking their opponents.

The second half started better for the Indians, as they started showing some skills on the ground. It payed off as Mandeep Singh shot a goal to equal the score 1-1. This gave the Indians confidence and their play on the field became more impressive. Thus, with their good coordination they were able to secure another in the net and the score became 1-2.

The final 20-25 minutes were the main play, where all the drama happened. Belgium came back strongly and nailed the score, 2-2. After that they created many opportunities but were unable to convert them into goals. India too lost a couple of opportunities, including one penalty corner.

The last 60 seconds were entertaining yet heart breaking for the Indians. With a very skillful and energetic play from Sardar Singh, the Indian captain leading from the front, the team was unable to keep the shot of Belgian, Johm-John Dohmen, out of the net. The last 10 seconds was the turning point, when the Belgian, Johm-John Dohmen scored a fantastic goal to make sure Belgium emerge as the winning team with 3 points on the board. India lost 3-2.

Image Courtesy - IBN

The Indian side can take a lot of positives from this match. They held Belgium quite well. The Indian players looked hungry to perform better to prove their worth and book their place. It is good to see team India performing well, hope the coming matches will go well for team India.

आगामी चुनाव - Navbharat Times

मेरे विचार चुनाव पर।

मुसाफ़िर

एक मुसाफ़िर घर से निकला,

दिल में कई अरमान थे,

एक ओर जंगल ही जंगल,

एक ओर शमशान थे,

मुसाफ़िर के कदम पड़े हड्डी पर,

हड्डी के यह बयान थे,

“चलने वाले सम्भल कर चलो,

कुछ दिन पहले हम भी इंसान थे।”

-गुमनाम।

LOOTERA – A cinematic poetry.

‘A film for cinema lovers!’

It takes courage to make such a film. Yes. Though Vikramaditya was inspired by a story, it takes great determination and sheer perseverance to make a film like this which takes the audience on a completely different journey all together.  The film mesmerizes you and makes you nostalgic if you ever had faced the similar kind of things in your life. Well, that can be expected from a director whose first film was Udaan. Vikramaditya Motwane takes a bow to the commercial cinema side of Bollywood with his latest venture Lootera. Although the film is immensely inspired by the story of O.Henry’s Last Leaf, at no point in time does it make you feel that you are re reading the short story.  Lootera is a complete new thing in itself.

The film has everything, which is required for a hit the box office. Most of the reviews, as the critiques have died somewhere down, gave a four star rating. I don’t believe in star system though. If a film is good, people do watch it, no matter what the stars suggest.

Well, for Lootera, everything falls in line. The story has its own charisma. You know what is bound to happen but you do get a few surprises, which wakes you up and says – Hey! Wake up, this is not reading the book thing, you are watching a movie.

Motwane has, in very good fashion framed the location. It is so pleasing to see Bengal through the lens of Motwane and in the second half the snowy 1954 Himachal through the same craftsmanship. He is surely a well trained student of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Some of the song sequence, with panning and dollying cameras, reminds you of Bhansali’s work.

Well, Sonakshi did a pretty good job. But Ranveer for me was not apt for the film. Motwane should have thought of someone else but if the budget refrained him from doing so, it’s understood. We all do compromise in our work, don’t we?

Ranveer is good looking guy, but the seriousness just didn’t match with his image. He still looks and acts like a Delhi wala boy from Band Baja Baraat. Well, Divya Dutta is ‘deaf’ & ‘dumb’ in the film. The one guy to watch out for is Adil Hussain. He is a superb actor and with his presence on the screen he makes the reel look so real. You will know what I am talking, if you have seen lessons in forgetting. 

Amit Trivedi has done a wonderful job by keeping the frames together intact with his superb sense over music. Shikayatein and Zinda are my personal favorites. All that happens when you have two choices to make and on the contrary both of them are important, so what is the situation like? All this is included here in LOOTERA. Everything you want to know could be seen in the movie. I don’t really want to go deep into the story because there’s a difference in “Seeing and Reading”. So when you can actually enjoy the cinematic beauty, why should I waste it by telling you!

I am always open for your precious feedbacks! Let me know what you feel, if you have seen the film.

“मेरे याद किए हुए दोहे।”

यूहीं एक शाम बैठे-बैठे मुझे हिन्दी टाइपिंग का बुखार चढ़ गया। बस फिर क्या था, कम्प्युटर आँन किया और जो मन में आया लिखना शुरू कर दिया। गनीमत तो यह है कि, शुरू भी किया तो दोहो से, जिनका मुझसे बड़ा पुराना रिश्ता है।

“मेरे याद किए हुए कुछ दोहे।”

क)   करत करत अभ्यास के, जडमति होत सुजान।।

रसरि आवत जात ते, सिल पर परत निसान।।

ख)   रहिमन निजमन की व्यथा, मन राखो ही गोय।। (रहीम)

सुन इठलैहे लोग सभैं, बाट न लैहैं कोए।।

ग)    बडा हुआ तो क्या हुआ, जैसे पेड़ खजूर।। (कबीर)

पंथी को छाया नही, फल लागै अति दूर।।

घ)    रहिमन धागा इश्क का, मत तोड़ो चटिकाए।। (रहीम)

जोड़े से फिर ना जुड़ै, जुड़ै गाठ परि जाए।।

ङ)     काजल की कोठरी मे, कितनो हि सयानो जाए।। (हमारे हिन्दी के शिक्षक सुनाते थे)

एक लीक काजल कि, लागी है पैलागी।।

च)    बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, बुरा न मिलया कोए।।

जो मन देखा आपना, मुझसा बुरा न कोए।।

हिन्दी भाषा को लेकर मैं सदैव ही बड़ा भावुक रहा हूँ। बहुत साल बीत गए, लगभग 8 साल, मैनें हिन्दी लिखना छोड़ सा दिया था। पर अब जो पुनः शुरू किया है तो देखिए कब तलक साथ चलता है।

(दूसरे दोहे (ख) का श्रेय मेरे दोस्त एवम सहपाठी, राम को जाता है।)

धन्यवाद।

(यदि कोई टिप्पणी करना चाहे तो बेशक किजिए।)   J

TREK TO MATHERAN – a meeting with the clouds!

I put my alarm on snooze and went back to sleep. Suddenly, I realized it’s no ordinary morning. It was 05:20 hours and I woke up. If I would have overslept, then I don’t think I would have been able to share all this.

It all started with our MA batch, when our Professor Mangesh planned the trek. He usually takes us to trek twice every year. But unfortunately I have missed all the opportunity prior to this one. This trekking trip to Matheran was my first and boy it was a trek! I was amazed and felt rejuvenated. Planning for the trek went as usual. Just a few different things in my bag pack this time, as it was a trekking trip and not a picnic.

I left early from my house, took the ticket and boarded 06:26 hours Panvel local. After reaching I met my fellow classmates, now ‘the trekkers’. We sat at the Panvel ST Bus stand for about an hour before catching our bus to Dodhani village from where we were suppose to actually start our journey of trekking.

Alas! We reached Dodhani village on foot where the bus left us. As soon as I stepped down the bus I took a good long time and took a glance, a 360 degree view. It was incredible! I have never seen nature such beautiful. So peaceful that you could smell the fresh mud, feel the breeze and hear the nearby water flowing down the stream. It was fantastic!

Then came the moment! Sir gave the signal and we, a bunch of 24 trekkers, started climbing. It hardly took us 15 minutes to reach our first stop. From there our goal, the final point, was clearly visible. We sat there for around 10 minutes and begin climbing again. This time it was a lengthy. It took us almost half an hour to reach the second point. It was a small stream going down the mountain. I was wearing converse, didn’t knew they would slip, but they slipped and fell for the first time. I was scared! Never felt something like that before. If my fellow trekker wouldn’t have held me by my bag, I would have hit myself against the rock. But as the rock was close, so it wouldn’t have caused much damage though. So, no harm done there!

After that we again started, only this time the climbing became more serious. For me it was a step by step climbing because I already experienced something, which I didn’t, wanted to happen again. After reaching a plain part of the mountain, which was not so plain, I decided to turn around and have a look. I was amused! The view was so heavenly! I fell in love with it. I stood there for about a minute when one of my fellow trekker called me. I turned and started climbing again.

The rain god was happy with us, I guess. Because whenever we felt the heat or thought that the humidity is increasing, there was a shower of around 2 minutes, which cooled us down. I enjoyed every moment, every single moment. It was my first trek and I can assure you that there are many more to come. It was so superb that to make you believe such things you must visit the place ones and of course on foot.

Finally after about a walk and climb of 2 ½ to 3 hours we finally reached our destination. For me it was like an achievement in true sense.

Share your thoughts and views if you too had done such a journey.

The ‘WANT-NEED’ Ratio: TELEVISION

I as a regular viewer of media is very concerned about the way infotainment is been provided to us. No doubt the job of the media is to catch as many eyes as possible but there should be always a limit to what is provided. The information and entertainment ratio has gone from bad to worse.

It is important for the media (especially TV) to maintain the balance. There are some very serious issues with the way the Indian TV media covers an event. For ex: While covering the whole IAC movement “who said to whom?” “What he/she said?” etc were the main points of discussion instead of discussing “why he/she said that?” were given less importance.

It is understood that the media needs to fill their pockets too. But gaining profits was always in business. So here comes the brutal truth that media in no more a media house but a business house. And by now most of us who are literate can understand what I am writing.

Smita Gupta in her research paper Post-Liberlisation India: How free is the Media? Explains citing references how media is selling just a product and it is all about profit making.

ITEM SONGS IN B’WOOD: DETERIORATED LYRICS?

If we trace the footprints of item songs used in ‘Bollywood’ we will have to go back to the 70’s era. No doubt that the first name strikes in our mind is Helen. But here I am not pointing out the visuals but the use of obscene lyrics. If we listen to an old item song and try to figure out what it means we won’t find anything much obscene in it.

For instance, take ‘mehbooba-mehbooba’ from the film ‘Sholay’, there is nothing wrong about the lyrics. The words used are proper Hindi and also there is no obscenity. There are many such examples which could be taken from the retrospective Indian films.

Tracing the deterioration of “item songs”, we don’t have to go much time back. It all started with the demand of exposing more in the Indian cinema. After all, why in a perfect going track would we want a sudden entry of a woman, half dressed and dancing with others without any reason! For now let’s keep the dancing aside and get to the lyrics.

Starting with “munni badnaam hui”! The phrase says it all. Can you imagine a girl singing it openly or a little girl dancing to it? What message does it conveys to the society, a constructive one, definitely not! And the list just goes on, “jalebibai”, “anarkali disco chali”, “Sheila ki jawani ”or“ chikni chameli”. We listen and watch these songs with our young ones or elders and expect them not to understand the core meaning of it! How is it possible to even think like this.

No matter who you are, if you are an Indian you are bound to be conservative in nature, if not openly then somewhere in the back of your mind. The lyricist is giving what you want. Should we believe this to be true? Do we really want what we are provided with? If that, so then it means that the lyricist is saying that we are not that intellectual and we will listen to every nonsense he/she is writing.

We should not just “listen” but actually listen. Getting to know the meaning should also be one of our agendas. If we consider in context to politics, we discuss with our peers to the deepest of our thoughts and confusion. So if we can do it in the terms of politics then why not films and item numbers.

I heard this recent song from Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine, “Halkat Jawani”. Now to every Indian the word “Halkat” is very familiar and the meaning too is known to all. So, can on one hand we expect our young generation (kids especially) to see and grow with the world and also on the other hand expect them not to imitate that in their social lives?

It surely is up to us to decide what to listen and see and what not to.  We have the right to say no! So it is up to us whether we should go gaga over these lousy item song lyrics or praise it.

MEDIA BIAS

In my opinion media should not be biased. Like any other profession media too has its code of conduct. In any case, broadcasting, printing or radio media should maintain the standards. It is the media which acts as a mascot of the society. In consideration, in a country like India majority of the population is illiterate. This enables them to form an opinion on any particular issue. And the role of media comes in here. Their job is to guide such people in forming right opinion and coming to right conclusions.

The history proves that whenever the media has played the role of being biased it has led to tribulations in society. Whether it may be the case of Vietnam, Iraq where the western media was said to be pro US or it may be Indian regional media’s reporting during the `93 riots. The media could have just reported the facts instead of using adjectives while reporting. Under such sensitive circumstances media should go by the rulebook.

Media is a tool of ‘infotainment’. That is entertainment and information. But in recent times the media has declined more towards profit making than serving the social causes. They have made news a pure business. And in this profit making media has crossed limits being biased in reporting keeping aside the social cause.

Sometimes a personal bias of the reporter, editor or even the owner comes into play. On being a part of an organization one should always keep their personal biases aside. Media has a very progressive role in society. It should use its bias to construct and not to deconstruct the society. While covering a very sensitive issue one should strictly follow the norms of the organization.

If one tries to break rules, they should be punished accordingly. Here comes the role of PCI but PCI too needs to be given more punitive powers. It is up to the media to be more socially responsible and play the role of being the fourth pillar of society.

Sachin Used As 'Googly'

SACHIN USED AS A ‘GOOGLY’

‘The God of Cricket’, Sachin Tendulkar, may have hit many googlies and sent them out of boundaries or he may have bowled hundreds of googly and confused the batsmen, but it is first time that he is bowled over by a googly of congress government. He is nominated for the Rajya Sabha membership along with veteran actress Rekha. It was rather a quick decision of Sachin Tendulkar becoming a RS member over a tea meet at cong. chairperson Soniaji’s place. At least now Sachin will make sure that he earns his ‘Bharat Ratna’.

The allies have alleged, directly or indirectly cong. for making such a decision as a trick and nothing more at a time when cong. is surrounded by all the big tanks shooting at it. They have alleged cong. for using Sachin and Rekha as a card and nothing more. “It is just to improve congresses ruined image.” Well, it was a good trump card but used at a wrong time.

We all know how soft spoken Sachin is, I am concerned that whether our politicians will give him a chance to speak in RS or he might have to carry his 100^th century bat to shut all RS members and speak softly in his voice addressing to Hon’ble chairperson Mr. Hamid Ansari.

Sachin is a brilliant cricketer and we all agree to that. But his decision to join RS seems dicey. He is known to be a very calm and quite person, with all those shouting mouths in RS whether he would be able to convey his message, the chances are thin. On second thought, whether he would be able to attend RS or not is a big question in the minds of many. Half of the year he will be playing cricket, then sometime with his injuries, also busy managing his future plans to bring out his formula team and after all this if time prevails he might attend half an hour of the session. So among all these hush-posh, the question arises, whether cong. just bowled a googly to confuse the Indian citizens and its allies or just to shift some focus from the cases like, 2G, CWG, Bofors, etc. On a second thought, Dada, Dravid, Kumble would have been much better options, as they are out of the team and can provide with their full assistance in the assembly.

Alas! Sachin bowled by ‘googly’. Let me remind you sir, it is not cricket it is politics and that to ‘Indian politics’ were dreams are lived on papers and those papers finally are leaked as scams. You are no doubt a good cricketer, but politics is not your cup of tea.