Indian Pass League: IPL

Late Wednesday afternoon a former colleague called me asking if I had read Daink Bhaskar ?  No, I replied. He asked me to check out the front page, “Boss uski toh lag gayi (Boss, he is gone),” and disconnected.

There a reporter had brought to light how the passes for Indian Premier League (IPL) were being distributed and later sold at the Khadi Gramodhyog Bhawan. For those familiar with Jaipur and local politics this comes as no surprise. Khadi board is headed by a Congress leader who doubles up as a member for IPL organising committee.

Being a Congress party leader his distributing  passes to party workers is obvious, and going by the craze for IPL tickets, if some party worker sold those tickets for quick bucks, I would say his good luck.

I am not defending the illegal selling of passes, but it’s not earth shattering revelation.

During the current IPL season, once when I went to meet the Khadi board chairman i saw scores of MLA’s, local leaders queuing up for tickets/passes. The who’s who of the city were making a beeline for the freebees, this including some of my esteemed journalist colleagues. They did not come in person but, their messages reached just in time.

Scribes pressing for passes, is a story no paper hack or a TV journo will bring forth, so here on the World Press Freedom Day let me share some of my pass experiences here.

Let me admit, this IPL season I too asked a influential local person to arrange four passes. A senior journalist wanted to take his family to see the match. He asked a couple of times and I assured him of making one call. Message passed, passes delivered, issue rests in peace without much ado.

Not a word against the passes, a thank you message drops in.

Like it or not it’s an established norm, pass isn’t merely an entry to the stadium its a ‘I have the power’ show to showcase “I matter in the city.” The senior journalist who asked me to make the pass call said, “We are journalist, how can we not ask for pass.  It’s become a habit boss. But directly asking doesn’t look good every time.”

He is not the only one. Few of my other journo pals at the beginning of the tournament too asked for arranging some passes. Motive to oblige some influential contacts and the gentleman who brought the issue to my notice yesterday had only called in the morning seeking a couple of passes for next game as only two matches are left to be played at the SMS stadium.

What bothers me is the dual standards we scribes have at times. The pass story was discussed in the circles and another friend later shared, ‘good the story came’. He liked the Dainik Bhaskar anchor for he didn’t get the desired seat for his friend’s brother in the passes that were arranged.

If this be the state of affairs, how can those of us who seek favours go and point fingers at those who are in the position to have the elusive ‘passes’.

But there aren’t many takers for this argument, for most take scribes take passes as their birth right, for they ‘report’.

Knowing Jaipur, RCA and journo’s at large, by a rough estimate in every match close to 500 tickets/passes are given for scribes or their relatives who ensure that equal number of spectators willing to pay for tickets miss their date with the stars.  But we consider public interest only after our interests are taken care off.

No gyaan in here, but will be great if we scribes stop taking ourselves bit too seriously.

Mass Media Talk

Contemporary trends in Mass Media, was the topic of seminar at Pratap University, Jaipur where I was invited on Friday. For reasons beyond me I was feeling a bit jittery.

It was the first time an invite mentioned I should have enough stuff to engage the audience  for close to 75 minutes and should have a ‘presentation’, something I am not most comfortable with.

As I reached the University, I was amazed to see students decked impeccably for the welcome. If that wasn’t a shock enough, once at the auditorium I was to do the customary lamp lighting. It didn’t help much to calm my nerves.

One last time before I could brush up my presentation, the Vice Chancellor Lt. Gen R K Karwal, mentioned in his address the role media plays in shaping up public perceptions, at times goes overboard, exaggerates and has to give to the demands of the market and consumers.

All valid points and they turned on its head what I had prepared for the talk. The hack in me who is trying to carve a niche using mass media to his advantage got a perfect start. I began emphasizing what Mass media does in today’s time. How it empowers individuals to question what at times goes wrong in the mainstream media.

Over the next hour shared my experiences, things I learnt at the University of Westminster, how my professor David Dunkely Gyimah converted a print journalist to an online practitioner and how Western Media was miles ahead when it came to using Mass Media in not just journalism but in other fields.

We went a bit beyond journalism for the betterment of the larger audience which had a majority of Engineering and MBA students. Touched on developments in the digital world and how corporate and individuals are using them to their benefit.

Lucky enough, I was successful in engaging my 200 strong audiences engaged for a little over the scheduled time. The house was open to questions and students asked how can freelancers make a head start in journalism, how mass media tools can be used for national integration and what page three journalism is?  There was considerable interest in knowing how different education system in India and UK are.

The second half of the session was to be addressed by Prabhat Sharma of Media Mirchi.  He started in wonderful Hindi, loved the ease with which he used words, some heavy for me, but I did my best to catch up.

Prabhat stressed on the various streams of Mass media and various roles a journalist and other experts play in electronic media. His aim was to enlighten students about various roles in a news organization to help students find a suitable role for themselves.

When his turn came to answer questions, there were some serious questions posed: What is the role of national broadcaster Doordarshan in today’s media? A loaded question that Prabhat tried best to defend by saying the broadcaster still holds a lot of promise in the 24/7 breaking news environment.

Well something I quite don’t agree. Some time back I had expressed my views on the national broadcaster in my blog.

The best one came when a student asks should there be a censor body for news channels? Prabhat’s safe response ‘use remote’.

But as a scribe the last two questions set me thinking as I moved out after an eventful day in quite some time.

Sultan Khan: a king at heart

Humility is the hallmark of a person and by this yardstick Sarangi maestro Late Ustad Sultan Khan was miles ahead of others.

This is no obituary piece or great remembrance, but an experience that came to my mind the moment I came to know of his demise.  Having only met him once and listened to his song tracks a few times I cannot vouch more about the maestro, but can share an incident which spoke volume about the man.

It goes seven years back in time, somewhere around February March 2004. It was Monday for sure for I had just entered office a couple of hours behind   time for I was returning back from Jodhpur.

Responding to the good afternoon, my bosses reading something handed me an envelope and looked at his watch signalling me to rush. I saw the envelope stepping out and it was press invite to meet Ustad Sultan Khan at Park Royal hotel,Nehru Place.

It started  10 am sharp and I was already over two hours late for the interview.

I rushed with my photographer  by 1 pm and by then all the media had left and Ustadji was in his room set to order his lunch.

Outside his suit I pleaded with the publicist Harish Sharma, “I have just returned from Jodhpur and got late.” I tried to make my point and before I could further argue a voice emerged from the room.

“Jodhpur se kaun hai? (who’s there from Jodhour?),” said a voice. I dashed in fancying my chances, but was clueless what was in store for me.

Wearing a chequred lungi and white kurta, an elderly man was sitting on the bed leaning against the wall. A smile emerged as I walked in, “Aap ho jodhpur se, kathe birajo( you are from jodhpur and where in the city do you stay put),” he asked signalling me to sit on the bed  next to him.

I said near masjid in jalap mohalla and he said I used to live near that place barely a kilometre from my house, he recalled an elderly khan sahab in my area and was chatting as if we had known each other for ages.

“Take your note-book out,” he ordered. Very sweetly without me asking he quickly started speaking about his album Piya Basanti and in a matter of few minutes responded to all my questions.

As I was about to pack my bags he said, “aaj daal roti aur subzi le aao, (get daal and bread with vegetables), will eat with the pandit after a long time.”

He held my hand and said I am your elder and you can’t say no to me. Over the next half hour we chatted and had lunch, much to everyone’s amazement.

Done with lunch, he took his paan daani and offered me a pan, “isme tambaku nahi hai (there is no tobacco in this one.)”

Taking the paan, I just wished him well and he patted my back and put his hand on my head as a gesture of giving blessing.

As I came out of the room amazed Harish commented, “you got a lottery today.” I just smiled back.

That was the end of my tryst with the Sarangi player, may be would have listened to the Piya basanti track a couple of times later playing on TV, but still today that hour spent with the maestro is clear in my memory.

May his soul rest in peace.

Oops he missed it again! Sachin falls six short of the magical hundred

Sachin Tendulkar dismissed on 94 at Wankhande stadium on day four of the final test against West Indies.

This is the simplest and the most non-Indian way to describe the yet another ‘alleged’ heart break of the nation. For the highest run scorer in the game yet again got out in the nervous nineties in his attempt to hit the century of centuries.

Tenth time in the test’s to be precise and 28^th overall nervous nineties dismissal for the master blaster.

After Cyrus Mistry out of the blue hogged the headlines on the day reserved for Sachin Tendulkar headlines, for every time since March 12, 2011 when Sachin hit  century no 99  the little master sets his foot on the field to bat headlines anticipating the ton of tons precede.

It’s indeed an unmatchable feat, would be the biggest high in the history of the gentleman’s game and might put Sachin in his own league when he is not second to Sir Donald Bradman who had an enviable 99.94 test average – but it’s still a century away.

More than anyone of us, media and experts included who like Sachin and follow the game scoring in triple digits is more important to him. He is the one who has done it 99 times and there is no doubt that he will not do it one more time, but can we allow him.

Can we not analyse every score he takes and put that extra burden on his ageing shoulders, can we let him be himself and hold our emotions and headlines till he scores the required number of runs.

While he does what he does best, score runs, let’s not devalue or ignore the contribution of these 94 runs in the context of the game. Also lets praise the effort of Ravi Rampaul, for he did the best for his team by taking one of the most prized wicket in the game.

Take a back seat and enjoy the game, I am sure we will enjoy the little masters feat more if we let it come when it has to come.

Tough one but not tougher than scoring all the runs he has scored over the years. Certainly not.

UP: Divided it develops, thinks Mayawati

Divide and rule. Well that’s the first thing that came to mind when I read a news flash stating that the Uttar Pradesh assembly has passed the resolution to divide the state into four parts.

Not getting into the debate of effective governance and the size of the state trying to forcefully set up a proportional formula, what amazes here is the tactic and timing of the move.

UP is gearing up for assembly elections 2012 and a section believes that this move by the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo is a sign of desperation, while others feel it might actually give her the edge in the yet to be declared elections.

Look at it whichever way what emerges is the first reaction wasn’t away from mark.

There’s a plea for division in the name of development citing that size does matter when it comes to performance, of governments. Bigger isn’t better and in times of crisis smaller ones can be managed better and quicker.

Mayawati defends her government’s decision on the above argument, for nearing the end of her third term as CM she feels UP is too big to be governed and developed as one single state, so divide.

Many also term it as her smart move to rattle other parties ahead of state assembly polls and divert attention from issues like corruption, development among others.

I understand smaller states can be better governed, but on the converse a bigger state gets bigger funds from center, it also gives one clout and can push in the center.

The formation of Uttrakhand from UP along with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in 2000 tells us that it’s not a very encouraging scene.

This divide and rule dictate is not restricted to Maywati and UP, elsewhere too we have been hearing similar voices, most notable being creation of Telengana.

For if development is the issue was it not the same in Mayawati’s previous stints as CM, this time round maybe sensing that things might not work the way she wants the move has all the potential to rattle opponents into rethinking mode and also divert attention from the real issue.

Put the blame of your incompetence to fulfill development goals on size of state and confuse the voter.

How effective will this resolution passed in two minutes will turn remains to be seen, but politicians can’t disagree that if intentions and will are right, development can be done in a bigger state as well.

If we and our leaders put our heart to developing together we can grow together as one.