Jallianwala Bagh Through My Lens

Jallianwala Bagh, a place that witnessed the worst massacre on April 13, 1919. If you’ll visit the place you will realise the agony which the masses had undergone with no escape at all.

They were shot dead by the British Indian Army on the orders of Acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer.

Pic 1 – The only entrance and exit the place has, which led to thousands of people entering the garden for a gathering. Who knew they would never exit the place

Pic 2 – The narrow lane of the corridor which could not allow people in such large numbers to exit and save their lives

Pic 3 – Windows of rot iron where the army men climbed to point their guns towards the unarmed Indian public

Pic 4 – Now, there’s a pyramid like stone, kept to depict the spot from where gunmen shot thousands of bullets in all directions. They horrifically killed masses which included men, women and kids

Pic 5 – The wall which has many bullet marks safeguarded till date

Pic 6 – The well which engulfed many bodies of people who jumped in it as an only option to save themselves, but unfortunately could not

Pic 7 – Granite stones mounted on a wall with history etched on them in golden ink in languages – English, Gurmukhi, Hindi

Pic 8 – Flame shaped memorial in the memory of the tragic incident and those who lost lives

Winston Churchill called the 1919 massacre of Indian protesters “monstrous.” Queen Elizabeth said it was “distressing.” Prime Minister David Cameron went with “deeply shameful.”

However, none of the Britain officially ever apologised for the grave mishap.

I’m deeply touched with the incident and whenever I think of it, the flash of incident appears before my eyes as if I was present there.

On this day, I take the opportunity to pay my tribute to thousands of families who lost their loved ones and the souls who battled till their last breath for survival. Jai Hind!!

Jantar Mantar: A Spellbound Experience

It was one of the dreadful days so far. I was at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi as a Media Person. It was a first time experience to be at a place like Jantar Mantar—a place with a flavor of politics and aroma of societal issues. I say, “Flavor of politics” as I was stunned to see the crowd supporting one of the rallies of a political party. Hundreds of people carrying placards in support of a few politicians, I knew of and others I did not even recognize; at least I did not. The show sha to complement this rally was humongous. Hundreds of banners, endless placards, topis (caps), stage arrangement, party flags, countless brand new cycles for distribution, and what not.

It was a live experience for me to witness our great politicians and future nation builders, wasting lakhs on a single political agenda. Truly, I felt disgraceful to think if this remains the condition, then we are on our way to doom. The hundreds of people hoarded in support of the party and unaware about the leader’s achievements or strategies. Seeing the class of people gathered, you could easily figure out what pennies would have brought them there to scream and hoot about their Neta (Minister).

Jantar Mantar, as the name suggests, is sure to leave you spellbound. You would see a queue of pandals (tents) back to back on either side of the road. In each of these tents, you will find a group of people supporting one or the other social issues. All in all, the causes were almost the same, but they were demarcated just like the LOC. The atmosphere chaotic, each pandal with their loudspeakers at highest volumes and a spokesperson in each of these pandals (let me reiterate, adjacent to each other) on top of his voice, trying to convey their message across public. Are you able to picture it in your mind? Yes, this is a shocking state of this democratic nation.

People divided–in groups, parties, culture, religion, states; are fighting for the same causes. What are these causes?—Corruption, Violence, Terrorism, Rape, etc. It’s an extravagant affair. In order to promote your thoughts and to reach out to public, media or government, seeking support; numerous groups and parties are doing spendthrift promotions of the same ideologies. And, this is definitely not in favor of our nation or its citizens.

Oh! And that’s not all. On my way to Jantar Mantar, there was another appalling sight. In the heart of the most popular Connaught Place was another huge establishment by a different party called “Pole kholo abhiyaan”, with huge banners displayed at every few steps with comic strips showcasing who else, but the latest buzz, Arvind Kejriwal. These banners were a mimic of him with all the negative things ‘in bold’ about him, displayed throughout the circumference.

The first thought that struck my mind seeing those banners was how insecure and useless our politicians have become. Today, instead of talking about their own achievements, these political parties have all the time in the world to organize a grand display, to talk about the shortcomings of one person. This isn’t hilarious, but a shame on our nation.

Only, if we could save on this daily nuisance and think on progression can we transform from a developing country to a developed one. Redirecting money to the right places and in right direction, coming together to bring the revolutionary change instead of fighting individually for the same cause.

Why can’t we have sensible and educated politicians? I’m not in favor of any political party, but today’s sight has left me in agony and urged me to think as to how can I (Shift+Del) this government and get some logical minds into picture. I wish I could bring that change.

Anti-Smoking Ads: Good Intentions but Any Positive Impacts?

“Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy.” — Voltaire

I was always aware of the smoking hazards however; the ongoing debate on whether the anti-smoking ads should be a mandate for Indian movies did push me to investigate further. One of the Hollywood Directors was recently in news for being denied releasing a Hollywood movie in India because he was not in favor to insert anti-tobacco advertisements into smoking scenes. As per Indian law, applicable since October 2, 2008, health warning on smoking scenes is mandatory in films and televisions. But, does it really help?
If you go back in 2000 BC, you will discover that there existed a medicinal plant called Cannabis. It was then used in small amounts as a psychoactive drug for mood upliftment or augmenting the brain cells. It was also used in Ayurveda to cure psychological disorders to some extent. Who knew it then that this blessing in disguise will be a cause of concern in the decades to come.
With approximately 120 million smokers in India, it definitely is an issue that drives attention. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India comprises of 12% of the smoker’s population across the globe out of which 30% are the adult male smokers and 3-5% are the adult female. Additionally, approximately 900,000 people die every year in India due to smoking. And these stats date back to the year 2009.

People, especially Indians are known to follow Bollywood trivia and their favorite celebrities’ big time. The majority of janta (public) loves to follow their star blindly whether it is their style, their tone, the latest fashion in the latest movie or even the way they are portrayed in a character. When people go insane in real life, imitating the reel life actor, do they really care if a line of disclaimer in tiny fonts runs across the screen? As a responsibility, the government has taken a good and proactive measure, which is a rare occasion but, who is keeping a count if it is really helping people to keep away from cigarettes. It’s just like a cautionary message on a pack of cigarettes. The message is put straight however, the production cannot be stopped.
On the contrary, as per Reuters there was a campaign run in the U.S. for four months in 2012 in a national TV ad campaign and also featured radio, billboard and digitally. It was not for long duration, but certainly the biggest campaigns ever in the world. It did make difference as one of the post campaigns research revealed, “1.6 million smokers nationwide made an attempt to quit smoking and 220,000 were not smoking at the end of the campaign.” To read the complete report, you can visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/09/us-anti-smoking-idUSBRE9880MQ20130909
Not many of us know that tobacco manufacturing companies, especially in India, maintain Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and programs to counter negative attention regarding their noxious business. These companies are often involved in noble and charitable causes just to improve the perception of people and policy makers against their devastating trade. Then there’s also the biggest reason i.e. employment to millions and millions of people.
Now, my question is instead of investing on baseless campaigns of which no one has a record of benefits and proven results, why the Indian government cannot do something to eradicate the root cause? Instead of running disclaimers on big screens, primarily in English, why don’t we run campaigns in the local language across villages and small towns first, on a big scale? After all, the study says, it’s mostly the poor and uneducated that are heavily addicted to tobacco consumption.
The “feel good” policies and regulations can do nothing to improve the pitiful state of nation. With the elections coming up, there will be new campaigns, new promises, new “feel good” policies, but that doesn’t work for a nation like ours. We need to be pragmatic. We need an activist, not a politician. An activist–who is strong and does not succumb to handful of crooked politicians. We need someone, who invests money in the right direction than forcing laws that do not make any difference to the aam janta. Or, even if they do make a difference, who’s evaluating it and keeping us informed? Why not?
Coming back to where I started, these anti-smoking ads really don’t matter to audiences. Whoever has to smoke, will smoke irrespective of whether such lines are displayed or messages prompted on the screen of a big flick. Movies are in a way a reflection of society. More than the directors, it’s the role of the Center to improve the societal conditions. The increasing rates of crime like rapes, thefts, murders, drugs are what the media portrays as an eye-opener. Instead of stopping the media or blaming them for polluting the minds of people, we must first focus on how these things can be prevented or eliminated from the society. Probably, media will never have prevalent issues to portray and will come up with better things for its audience to relate to.