Boiling Point

The wave of acquiring small and medium newspapers has stepped in India with STAR's Rupert Murdoch planning to launch SUN, an english daily, in Tamil Nadu. The rumours to trust the media moghul has plans to launch the new daily in TN initially and later on launching it in all the other metros which are metro based and will explore new opportunities to leave no vacuum for any other publications to make use of it.

So, indigenious newspapers will have to try new experiments inorder to find survival in the cut-throat market dominated by innumerable publications and channels. What does Murdoch has to offer newness to the market? As per the existing SUN in England which caters news based on fashion and glamour has worked a lot among the minds of the natie english tongue readers who are attratcted more to it than to any of the other newspaper which offer more political news than covering glamour and life-style.

Comparing the media scenario in England to Indian soil the opnion of media observers is that any of the publications which hae understood the native pulse of the local minds will obviously clinch the title of getting more readership and also circulation. Is this the simple idea to clinch the Indian readership market then? Well possibly not that much easy to grab anything so easily. Because one has to understand the local issues in depth to find-out what are the problems which are persisting the local life as well as at the national levels. The recent survey conducted by an agency in New Delhi has brought the bizzarre facts which were never revealed by the earlier agencies. The agency which with the similar attempt had made a survey during an election held at Uttar Pradesh recently and said that the chances of Mayavati winning the CM chair are lot. And at the end of the election it was proved to be right that Mayavati really proved to be a worthy candidate in handling the state administration.

The sweet pickle offered by Murdoch is an ultimatum to TIMES to test directly of money, stature and the market. If SKY networks is stepping into some land then obviously they would arrive with a strong hold of testing all sort of mettles.

Media Matters

Can you live, literally, without watching television or reading newspapers for a day? To answer this question it depends entirely on the profession that youhandle everyday. What if your are a media professional and want to dedicate yourself everyday to bring in new force or energy to make it better everyday. But think of common people who hve been very much dependant everyday on mainstream meedia everyday so much that sometime you start feeling like you are missing something in day to day life with loosing much energy not getting it back.

Think of those early morning fresh news bulletins read in kannada regional television channels and those headlines in english newspapers could always feature to remind the common man that there is a huge gap in the mind that makes him to incline towards something new with almost seducing to go to the market to buy his age old newspapers. Wwll, i have spoken to people of retirement from the government service that they are almost belive in newspaper and magazines to spend most of their time as well as the source of getting more information.

What about our television channels? Though their contribution to the entire commmon man isn't much helpful in bringing enlightenment over the political matters or economical matters yet he believes in the matter that he is almost noting if he hasn forgotten to switch-on the regular news bullettins. So, i think the gap between the expectation of quality from a common man and the qualitative production from the media has made him to start living without it.

Watch This!

Watch This!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anRv0dOVGZ0&mode=related&search=

Do It Right

All variety of fun shows broadcasted in various english and regional channels are par in their quality and content. No matter how long they stay on the screen they have been successfull in catching attention of the viewers in their own way. Take for example takeshi's castle in POGO during weekdays is a real fun filled reality programme translated version in hind seem to have got a good slot in the television channels. The performers are the real stars here as they try in every episode to reach the goal fixed by the organiser. Commented by Javede Jaffri of Boogie-Woogie fame adds a bit cheer to the entire programme. From beginning till to the end of the programme it is an assured content nobody of any of the viewer will ever feel bored neither watching the reality event nor the borist slapstick, sometimes, conversation from Javed Jaffri.

But the quality of a programme narrated in enlish language in a english channel will obviously clicks in getting over to the mood of a viewer than any of the regional language based channels. Because the true and origianal quality is sometimes depends entirely in the native language and not in translated ones. So, i always prefer to watch programmes in original tounges rather than in translated versions. Ultimately it is left with the choice of any viewer whether he wants to watch it or wants to skip the entire channel.

Better Than Never

What a ridiculous? Well, you wouldn't had said nothing much different than this if you had watched a panel discussion on Udaya Kannada channel last night between 10 to 11. All things went in such a despair that a discussion which was organised on the theme of contribution of Congress and JD(S) to the state politics went for an hour like a friendly talk that takes place in village side. The discussion began with good start but later on as the two traditional enemies began revealing their utter and bitter experiences of both the parties at the national level the programme seemed like nothing much new to offer to the viewers. Why is it then such programmes are organised without much cohersion and balanced sort of compering from the programme production team. What was shown in the programme was like an argument between two rabid dogs which are fighting over the area borders that happens always.

There isn't much to offer in our regional panel discussions because neither there will be any topics to discuss nor the invited guests will have an authenticated opinions to broughtforth to the viewers. Forget the compering personality who never even allows the guests to present their viewes. Such programmes are broadcasted in randomly picked timing that no dog will ever bother to watch it at mid-night. So, what a viewer would arrive to the conclusion will be that the whole affair seemed to be pre-planned or presented in a dramatically at the studio.

Has any of the regional channels have succeeded in bringing popular tv anchors like Tejaswini Ramesh to name a few after her win at the political grounds. Then what are they doing with?. With astrologers and other street-hawkers these regional channels are busy with presenting some old and stale discussions. And we, the regional viwers have no choice but to watch only these discussions which are not worth to it at all. So, the only up bringing will be of the dirty and rotten. So, next time better you think of eating last night's remaining food than to watch these panel discussion in kannada channels. Try it...

Lead Kindly Light

The arrival of city centric magazines and their depiction of local heritage are fulfilling a vacum in the minds of readers which was left out without adequtae answers by well-popular magazines before. Though they were concentrated mainly on the living conditions of high class society yet they were circulated among large number of readers with high-end tag prices. The Press Bureau of India does'nt have records to prove the total number of magazines which are circulated in the market because the system of assessing the total numbers seems to have not allowing the process of survey any further. So, what is the fuss all about? yes, the question has an answer in it with carrying no relevance in this modern world without any proper guidelines and direction where the readers are left with no choice but have to pick the same magaines which are picked out by any other idiot who thinks the cover page design and its prices are the real factor playing crucial role in picking the same magazine.

Everytime when you go to a market to pick a magazine obviously you won't ultimately end-up in picking the magazine of you choice but something else attracted by the cover design and the inside glamorous pages.

Gud Goodmorning !

What are we fed on every morning in our television channels is nothing but the rotten and stinking food of the last night. If you hope to hear some fresh news in the morning news are sterile food and nothing else. Comparing with these morning news bullettings better that we should continue with reading newspapers. An ultmate choice at the bottom after so many picks to thirst for knowledge and information.

What are the news channels are doing then? Are they doing their job of bringing news from all corners to their viewers? I don't think they will possibly see success in the near future also. The main objective of broadcasting a morning news is to sooth the viewers not with hardcore news but soft and entertaining or off-beat stories. And the timing of broadcasting these bullettins will be probably 7-9 and no human will ever in an average rate will desire to see something like Dinakaran sort of happenings. So, our news channels might be in a confusion on what to be brought forth of stories which could begin the trend of beginning a daily event of updated news. Instead of doing this the channels are in an impression that whatever is possible and how much worth of news stories are possible should be filled in the minds of viewers and he should not be let be go away to somewhere else.

Where are they heading?

With the launch of a new kannada entertainment television channel on Saturday the battle of sharing a space in the minds of viewers has become rapid and intensified. The new channel is supposed to be 8th channel after Zee Entertainment launched their kannada version in kannada about three months ago. The viewers of kannada speaking audience has once more been put in a dilemma over the selection of new channels which can be categorised mainly oriented on entertainment, news and music.

The number of kannda channels which have a spotlight on entertainment are Udaya TV, Zee Kannada, Etv Kannada, Chandana and the most recent one is Asianet Suvarna. And the channels oriented on news are TV9, Udaya News and soon to be launched Suvarna News (Asianet). Now, the choice of a good television channel by any viewer would always turn towards either ETV or to Udaya. Zee's most ambitious Kannada has been completely ruined in the hands of its Regional Director Malavika, who thinks only glamour and glitz can upbring the survival of any television channel. If you given a remote in a calm and quiet time which channel would you prefer to go with ? I hope not a single kannada channels that i mentioned above.

Why is it the quality of prdouction in kannada television channels never meets the required standards in the national level. Obviously, the question can be configured in the following points:-

1. The regional language has a very limited number of viewers


2. The investment in a kannada channel doesn't allows to upgrade to national and international standards


3. The existing kannada channels are simply lanuhced to the market without realizing the strategy of the progrrammes


4. The dearth for infotainment among kannada viewers is less when it compared to hindi or english audience


5. As far as the reporters or desk people are concerned they are being choosen on influential grounds rather than their capacities nor their talents


6. The quality of equipments being used to shoot events i e camera, recorders, mics and other micro equipments are either bought in second hand service or provided with poor quality operations

The list is endless. Almost all of the employees working at all leveles in the above mentioned channels share this same opinion. Even the selection of superior level positions are also done based on the influential grounds but not on their professional expertise in the same field. So, thats why every time when a new entertainment or news channel is launched the concept would be either taken from a national channels or will be a mix of international and national channels.

Monotonou, unberable

The creative methodology of teaching at our universities in the state of Karnataka seems to be deteriorating. This opinion could be examined by the medium of expression of these students, who step into this world with claiming of greater knowledge, who fail ultimately in the end without meeting the required skills to ‘survive’ against the other.

So, what is it then holding them to showcase their talents and skills that is lying in their minds but not finding their own strength to exhuberate them. In opinion of one of a teaching faculty at the University of Mysore, ‘the students of traditional subjects have been found out to be somewhat mum in their medium of expression. And the students of creative subjects like Journalism or Psychology, Communicative English studies they are much apprehensible in choosing their own career and destinations.’

If an opnion of the lectuere is true then what is the total percentage of those students who passed out in these streams and subjects are still seen everywhere around our premises without getting a job which meets their eligibilities? Well only the time has an answer for set of non-solutable questions like these. If you think your son or daughter is one among them then you really have to consult the society and not to blame the teaching faculty, isn't it?

The Butterfly Park

Courtesty: Corbis

The Glass House

‘The Glass House’ in the city is not as delicate as you think. It has fought the battle against the time to prove itself as a major attraction sideling all the major spots

The exotic ‘Glass House’ located at Lalbagh Botanical Garden is an establishment of prime attraction which attracts thousands of tourists everyday to admire its beauty and structure. The magnificent erection of glasses constructed at the place of Glass House does its work of creating excitement and a word of bombasting its world famous popularity. The world famous structure was established during 1889-90 to commemorate the arrival of a voice-roy to then Mysore state. John Cameron the then Superintendent of Lalbagh Botanical Gardens conceptualized the idea to building a glass house to make the grand welcome to the vice-roy a memorable event. Though the his ideas impressed the vice-roy with an unforgettable event yet the solid presence of the Glass House at Lalbagh Botanical Garden is still serving to visitors as it did earlier.

The plush garden beside the Glass House beside to it is also an added attraction to it. The venue of the Glass House has been used for organizing many events for horticultural and agricultural purposes. The State Government of Karnataka has been organizing flower and fruit shows twice a year on the occasions of Independence and Republic days. The increasing number of visitors from all over the country and abroad has intensified the Department of Horticulture to invest more infrastructural facilities to make the Glass House a beautiful spot indeed. Very recently a mango exhibition was organized at the Glass House to lend an opportunity to the mango growers to exhibit their variety of mangoes and a platform to earn profit. All sort of events organized at the Glass House creates a flutter among the general public creating a huge popularity among the mass.

Before allowing the general public to take participation in the events organized at the Glass House, the venue was used as the preferred location for organizing political events during Congress regime at the Centre. Most of the national leaders have participated in these political events like AICC Conference or the other. Those who are included among the VIPs who had participated in the above political events are Jawaharlal Nehru and various other prominent leaders of Congress who had played a pivotal role in building the nation and the party. After sensing their hidden objective of establishing the brand image of the party motives, the then Mysore Government imposed a ban on political parties from organizing any of the party events that are associated with the general public.

When the Glass House was established during 1889-90, it was a huge success in India abroad. Because of its artichitectural beauty and the use of imported quality worth glasses picked carefully from abroad created a marvelous impact among the general public. The Glass House was built in the model of British Glass House, which is situated at Hide Park. The one in England is considered as the best architectural structure in the world. Comparing it with the Glass House in the heart of the city, it is still preserved and maintained carefully from going into ashes in the course of time. Thanks to the Department of Horticulture and the State Government of Karnataka for doing a great job in preserving its heritage. In 2003-04 the Bangalore Development of Authority (BDA) renovated the entire Glass House with imported glasses to make it look more glamorous and beautiful as ever. The fading glasses used earlier during the British regime started cracking within creating a panic among the maintaining authorities to replace them with a new ones. So, then came the rescue call from BDA which agreed heartily to renovate entire glasses by the new imported glasses.

Dr Jagdish, the Deputy Director of Horticulture Department at Lalbagh Botanical Garden has to say that, ‘foreign tourists who throng everyday to the garden in more than thousands to the Glass House has become a common phenomenon. It is indeed a great matter of pride for the City of Bangalore for having such a structure which is built in the model of international standards. If you could examine closely of the irons and metals that are being used to create the Glass House was caste-iron, which is a rare and the best metal in the market. Need to say that apart from issuing tickets to the visitors so far the State Government of Karnataka has never used any tool to give a publicity to project the Glass House as the prime attraction spot than not concentrating the whole concept of tourism in Bangalore only on the Glass House. A tourist from UAE opined that, ‘I have reached at last here at the Glasshouse after enquiring all the details of the prime locations in Bangalore and at last I’m here landed. It’s a once in a life time opportunity for every tourist to have a glimpse on the marvelous structure. The whole botanical garden is maintained nicely by the authorities and still there is much need to be done to make it more edgy and beautiful.’ Another family from Tamil Nadu had to share an opinion that, ‘We have started our city tour right from the Glass House because we were told by the localities that this is nuclear attraction to all the rest of the city attractions. So, the journey all the way from Tamil Nadu is begun with the Glass House.’

Next time if you heard of any flower and fruits show in national and international standards then it would be definitely organized at the Glass House. Because the glasses at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden doesn’t lies and its mirror can be seen in all over the world.

For further information contact:
Director of Horticulture
Department of Horticulture
Lalbagh Botanical Garden
Bangalore- 560004. Karnataka .
Tel: 0806571925
Email: dirhorticulture@vsnl.com

Beauty at the Best

The Butterfly Park at the outskirts of the city near Bannerghatta National Park is an eye has turned to be an eye of the attraction

The sprawling green garden stretched for over 10,000 sp ft at Bannerghatta Biological Park has been a ‘buzz’ in the city attracting hundreds of tourists from foreign countries everyday. The place, which is an abode for Butterflies during the summer to have a sigh of relief to get out the summer heat to take care of the family matters. The park which exclusively meant for Butterflies was inaugurated two years back and has been under huge accolades from all quarters of the state.

The venture that had to fight with many hassles from the administration segment was began initially to see the response of common people and their response towards western culture of gardens meant for all sorts of creatures. Though there were not even hundreds in numbers to watch the butterfly park as it was thrown open for the public during summer season when the butterflies go in search of mates. But the University of Agricultural Sciences came forward with the concept of opening such parks was almost discarded at the legislation. Perhaps, the state government was inclined towards opening an 5 star hotel than investing money on neither the butterfly park nor biological park. A K Verma, Chief Wildlife Warden at Butterfly Park, has to say, ‘We were instructed during the inauguration by the state government authorities that we had to maintain the butterfly park with rapt attention to make it a grant venture at the national level. The investment was huge so everything went well but only the arrival of the season was in the waiting list. As soon the monsoon and winter came in full force it brought with it varieties of butterflies from all corners of the country and abroad. We were happy so also the butterflies.’

The park has so far been a shelter to hundreds of rare breeds of butterflies which are in the list of extinction. The park is serving at its best in saving the rare breed of butterflies that were earlier seen only in glass bottles at experiment labs or in the houses of scientists. One of the employee at the butterfly park opined that though the park has all the necessary infrastructure yet the plants are not of the right selection. Because not all butterflies love to sit on plants which are found at our sewege canals. I think the authorities should change the plants in order to attract more butterflies in the coming season. During summer we haven’t seen butterflies not more than 30 to 35 types of varieties.’

The park is worth to be seen if you are enjoying an holiday during weekends. The lush green garden with maintenance of cleanliness is also an added attraction for nature lovers. Every visitor is instructed to maintain the park instructions before entering to the park which is exclusively reserved and allowed only for tickets which are issued outside the counter. The visitors with valid tickets will be shown a documentary on the butterfly park and the purpose of establishing the park. The show is being implemented in the model of European countries to give it a edgy look in international standards. The screening of the documentary contains the depiction of how the park is maintained, the total number of employees being are at work to keep the park green in all season and so on. It is clearly visible in the direction plates kept at all corners of the park that nobody is allowed to catch butterlies. At any condition if a visitor is being noticed of violating the park instruction then they will be punished with adequate penalties. When asked of maintenance of the park, a garden worker said, ‘The incidents of violating the park strict rules and regulations are rare of a sort. Nobody till to this days such incidents were never reported. But if it takes place then a punishment is always to there to make the right balance.’

The butterfly park has the direction paths at all over the corners of the plants to keep the visitors at bay from touching butterflies. Its only the silence which speaks louder than anything here. Visitors will be provided, on request, with leaflets on butterflies and their history of breeding etc. A counter exclusively meant for any queries is always at the help for visitors to clarify their doubts to get right details. One of the visitor from Australia, Stephen Jones, hinted that ‘such parks like the butterfly park are common in Australia. The one in the city is really deserves a great applause. Some of the rare breed of butterflies are not even found in our country.’
The butterfly park is surely a place worth to visit with your family. Do visit the park at the earliest to see how a wonder of the nature plays with its own beauty.

Smells So Good

‘Mentrosexuals’ are training their noses towards women to get their due share of attention
These days men are more aware of their personal appearance and less intimidated by fragrance products. With presence of word “metrosexuals” on every corner you would expect that trend in men’s fragrances is towards fresh fruit accords and sweeter floral notes that would give men’s fragrances more of a feminine approach. With increasing number of advertisements on TV depicting the launch of different verities of perfumes to the market is clearly sending out the message that the animal instinct in human is still not vanished completely.

The rediscovery of male sexuality doesn’t necessarily mean that all men are crazy for their feminine side. Like for example our own Kannada actor Upendra, who have been not using any of the so called popular perfumes ‘since his birth’. He says, ‘the sweat of the smell is odour and perfume delivered naturally so why to use ‘Axe’ against to that. I prefer to be as I am no matter what who rejects me for being natural.’ Many of men (and women) are becoming afraid of where this whole “metrosexual” thing is going. When it comes to scents, it becomes even truer. Men do not want to smell like women, and women also do not want them to smell like women. Thankfully, trend in fashion is towards classic elegant looks and men’s fragrance industry is following that trend.

The hot trend in the men’s fragrance world these days is men’s fragrances that evoke a masculine attitude. It means unisex thing is dead. Woody oriental will be buzzword in fragrances for men for next few years. Also popular is use of rare, more exotic and diferent spicy notes in every product which lend the brand’s signature. Sudeep the popular and acclaimed actor in Kannda Film Industry has an immense collection of body odours at his own apartment for the daily use for different purposes. If you visit his studio any given day the visiotor will be puzzled counting the numbers more than the total number of films wherein he has appeared as a leading actor.

Trend is bigger scale of distinction among brands, which produces unique, recognizible style of every product. As Sudeep puts it that, ‘I basically buy body sprays considering the brand popularity, fragnance and uniqueness. Im not the only one in the industry to have the collection of hundreds of body sprays, Ravichandran, Puneet Rajkumar are also ardent collectors of varieties of body sprays.’

New big trend in men’s fragrance industry is using a celebrity to create his own fragrance (with a little help of professionals) in attempt to entice buyers to identify with characteristics of celebrity by using his fragrance product. It is up to you to choose will you fall for this or not, but our recommendation is: stick to classic men’s fragrances makers. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan has his own brand in his name endorsing at the international and in Indian market. Though the demand for Indian body sprays is on decline comparing to overseas brands yet the fight is somewhat balance as the traditional muslim community hasn’t adopted to use other than the body sprays produced at homes.

Trends in daytime men’s fragrances will remain crisp and cool scents, as men still want to be fresh and clean during the day. Cool, fresh, less aromatic spices with warm, woody fragrances will be generally trend in daytime fragrances. For evening, lighter, crisp daytime scents will not be an option. Spicy warm Orientals with precious woods scents and new exotic spice notes will find their way into evening fragrances for men. Scents will be stronger, more classic and more macho, with new dash of elegance through more romantic, woody fragrance. With seeing a lot of return to the traditional, men’s fragrances are, in general, more masculine, unique, culture, classic and at times ‘savagery’.

Do Bheega Zamin

Bollywood comos attempting new trend setting techniques from top to toe has caught the attention of the society and young in Bangalore

Dino Morea was sitting on in a focus group for a trend-forecasting company at which young professionals were asked about their grooming habits. Dino found he had nothing useful to contribute. His shaving regimen involves the use of a razor about as frequently as the seasons change. "Everyone else was chiming in about the products they use," said Dino Morea, the Bollywood actor famours more for his figure and muscles than acting. "I was totally mystified. I blanked."

Dino's idea of a style symbol, seriously, is of Ulysses S. Grant’s, whose beard he came to admire after watching the 2003 Civil War-era drama "Cold Mountain." Two years ago, when he began experimenting with different beard styles, which he described as ranging from neat to burly to unkempt, his facial hair was an expression of individuality in a tide of metrosexual conformity. "It's a sign of the times," Morea said. "People are into beards right now." At hipster hangouts and within fashion circles, the bearded revolution that began with raffishly trimmed whiskers a year or more ago has evolved into full-fledged Benjamin Harrisons. At a fashion held in Bangalore last month at least a half-dozen designers turned up with furry faces.

"This is some sort of reaction to men who look scrubbed, shaved, plucked and waxed," said designer Vedan, who stepped onto the runway after his "It's less 'little boy,' " Bradley said. "For a while men have looked too much like Boy Scouts going off to day camp." On city streets, too, trends in scruff have reached new levels of unruliness, a backlash, some beard enthusiasts say, against the heightened grooming expectations that were unleashed with the rise of metrosexuality as a cultural trend. Men both straight and gay, it appears, want to feel rough and manly.

With their fully furry chins the metrosexual manifesto, seem now to be endorsing a lumberjack ideal. "It's a nice masculine aesthetic," said Akash, student of NIFT, who watches changes in the trend in Bollywood. Suraya Narayan, the well-known industrialist and owner of several clublike grooming salons in Bangalore and Mysore, reports seeing newly bearded customers, but not enough to warrant concerns for the health of his shaving business. "It will be interesting to see over the next six to eight months what mainland America is going to do with it," Allan said. "For the past several years we've been stripping guys of their body hair. Maybe now it's time for the pendulum to swing the other way."
No survey ever conducted about women's attitudes toward beards, even those not underwritten by the Gillette Co., has indicated that more than 2 or 3 percent of women would describe a full beard as sexy. Yet the return of the wild beard carries a certain erotic charge that has been missing from beards since the Furry Freak look of the 1970s. Prashanth Chettiyappa, a designer of interactive Web videos, swears that having a beard has changed his life, giving him an air of confidence. "I met my current girlfriend a week after I started growing my beard in November," Chettiyappa said. Now he finds himself constantly touching and stroking the beard, as if it were a talisman. "It's like a security blanket on my face," he said.

Beardly Acts

Bollywood comos attempting new trend setting techniques from top to toe has caught the attention of the society and young in Bangalore

Dino Morea was sitting on in a focus group for a trend-forecasting company at which young professionals were asked about their grooming habits. Dino found he had nothing useful to contribute. His shaving regimen involves the use of a razor about as frequently as the seasons change. "Everyone else was chiming in about the products they use," said Dino Morea, the Bollywood actor famours more for his figure and muscles than acting. "I was totally mystified. I blanked."

Dino's idea of a style symbol, seriously, is of Ulysses S. Grant’s, whose beard he came to admire after watching the 2003 Civil War-era drama "Cold Mountain." Two years ago, when he began experimenting with different beard styles, which he described as ranging from neat to burly to unkempt, his facial hair was an expression of individuality in a tide of metrosexual conformity. "It's a sign of the times," Morea said. "People are into beards right now." At hipster hangouts and within fashion circles, the bearded revolution that began with raffishly trimmed whiskers a year or more ago has evolved into full-fledged Benjamin Harrisons. At a fashion held in Bangalore last month at least a half-dozen designers turned up with furry faces.

"This is some sort of reaction to men who look scrubbed, shaved, plucked and waxed," said designer Vedan, who stepped onto the runway after his "It's less 'little boy,' " Bradley said. "For a while men have looked too much like Boy Scouts going off to day camp." On city streets, too, trends in scruff have reached new levels of unruliness, a backlash, some beard enthusiasts say, against the heightened grooming expectations that were unleashed with the rise of metrosexuality as a cultural trend. Men both straight and gay, it appears, want to feel rough and manly.

With their fully furry chins the metrosexual manifesto, seem now to be endorsing a lumberjack ideal. "It's a nice masculine aesthetic," said Akash, student of NIFT, who watches changes in the trend in Bollywood. Suraya Narayan, the well-known industrialist and owner of several clublike grooming salons in Bangalore and Mysore, reports seeing newly bearded customers, but not enough to warrant concerns for the health of his shaving business. "It will be interesting to see over the next six to eight months what mainland America is going to do with it," Allan said. "For the past several years we've been stripping guys of their body hair. Maybe now it's time for the pendulum to swing the other way."
No survey ever conducted about women's attitudes toward beards, even those not underwritten by the Gillette Co., has indicated that more than 2 or 3 percent of women would describe a full beard as sexy. Yet the return of the wild beard carries a certain erotic charge that has been missing from beards since the Furry Freak look of the 1970s. Prashanth Chettiyappa, a designer of interactive Web videos, swears that having a beard has changed his life, giving him an air of confidence. "I met my current girlfriend a week after I started growing my beard in November," Chettiyappa said. Now he finds himself constantly touching and stroking the beard, as if it were a talisman. "It's like a security blanket on my face," he said.

Is the Indian media losing touch with reality?

Attacking the messenger—also known as blaming the media—is fast becoming if it has not already become the default mode of Indian politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, film actors, sports stars and virtually everybody else who is at the media’s receiving end.
But when somebody within the media itself turns the telescope on his fraternity, it is news. And Vinod Mehta, editor-in-chief of Outlook, does exactly that in his Delhi Diary. The reason for Mehta’s ire: the media’s reaction to Prime Minister’s speech advocating austerity last week.
“The prime minister’s rather mild and unsurprising address to the CII, pleading with the captains of our flourishing economy to think, worry and sacrifice a bit of their wealth to assist the massively underprivileged, has produced a whopping uproar. Those who earn upwards of Rs 10 crore a year are outraged—and so is the media.

“I can understand the position taken by the pink papers, but even centrist mainstream dailies have poured nothing but ridicule and scorn on the benign Manmohan Singh for having the temerity to ask our overworked tycoons to help curb conspicuous consumption and implement some of the high-minded talk of corporate social responsibility.

“I hope I don’t sound like Comrade Prakash Karat when I say that the reaction to the PM’s speech shows the class character of our media. Since almost all the advertising in the English media comes from big business houses, I can understand, but not endorse, the stand taken. We (and that includes Outlook) know which side our bread is buttered.

“Meanwhile, what I find most distressing is the unrelenting hostility of the media to all poverty alleviation programmes, which are invariably described as “profligate”, “wasteful” and “outdated”. None of this should surprise anyone, but it reinforces my conviction that for the poor of this country to expect that “the conscience of the rich” can be pricked remains a pipedream.”

The choice of words is interesting. Are the wrong class of people, who have no feel for the common man and woman, becoming journalists? Are the wrong class of people in charge? Are our journalism schools too expensive for ordinary Indians? Have huge salaries quelled the fire in the bellies of Indian journalists?

Or is this just a problem with the English media?

Cross-posted on churumuri

Posted in Issues and Ideas

Ray Bradbury: all TV spews out are ‘factoids’

Fahrenheit 451, the book and the movie, has for decades been the benchmark film on government censorship and McCarthyian witchhunts. But its author, Ray Bradbury, who won a special citation at Columbia University’s Pulitzer Prize ceremony last month, says it was about neither censorship or witchhunts.

It was, he says, a book about how television destroys interest in reading literature. “Television gives you the dates of Napoleon, but not who he was,” he says, summarizing TV’s content with a single word that he spits out as an epithet: “factoids.”

“As early as 1951, Bradbury presaged his fears about TV, in a letter about the dangers of radio, written to fantasy and science-fiction writer Richard Matheson. Bradbury wrote that “Radio has contributed to our ‘growing lack of attention.’… This sort of hopscotching existence makes it almost impossible for people, myself included, to sit down and get into a novel again. We have become a short story reading people, or, worse than that, a QUICK reading people.”

Read the full article here: Fahrenheit 451 misinterpreted

Link courtesy Vivek Rajagopalan
Posted in People, Television

‘Do not turn journalism into entertainment’

The dumbing down of the news—the McDonalds-ification and the Murodch-isation of the media—to appeal to the lowest common denominator, in the mad rash for numbers, has been the pavlovian response of publishers and editors to readership and advertising declines.

But the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa has served a timely warning. Making journalism interesting may be a prerequisite to keep readers interested, but making journalism entertainment, he has told the World Editors’ Forum, is a pure recipe for disaster.
In a video address to the WEF in Cape Town, Llasa said journalism was facing difficult challenges, which some have attempted to conquer by “banalisation or frivolisation of journalism”. He said people looking for entertainment rather than “true information” had caused some degradation of journalism. He said this was “very dangerous” and that a transformation of journalism into entertainment would abdicate what has been its most important function.

Good journalism, according to Llosa, “conveys an objective vision of what is going on in the world.” He said the best way to overcome bad journalism was to do what good newspapers, radio and television have been doing: “Telling the truth and trying to convey good information.”

Read the full story: Mario Vargas Llosa on the future of journalism

Posted in Issues and Ideas, Newspapers, Television

Why Google can’t find Dr K. Haminahamina

As if bitten by a rampaging mad dog, outsourcing journalism work to India has become a bit of an epidemic in America. It all passes in the name of cost-cutting, to offset falling circulation and advertising revenues. Indian reporters are to view proceedings over the internet and report on the event.

What if the tables were turned?
What if Indian newspapers were to outsource their work to Americans?
The Washington Post’s Gene Weingarten decides to check it out. After viewing a webcast of “a recent meeting of the local legislature of Tamil Nadu”, he writes up an account of it and offers it to “India’s 50,000 newspapers at the surprisingly affordable price of 80 rupees, or about two bucks, apiece”.

CHENNAI, INDIA — A man whose name is, I swear, “Somnath Chatterjee,” addressed the state legislature here today. Mr. Chatterjee was introduced as the leader of the “Lok Sabha,” which is evidently some sort of important national lawmaking body about which few details are available at this time.

Mr. Chatterjee is apparently in ill health, as he arrived surrounded by attendants in white hospital garb. However, he proved hale enough to mount the podium, where he delivered a lengthy speech in praise of an elderly, revered local government official whose name sounds something like “Dr. K. Haminahamina,” a name that, unfortunately, didn’t get any Google hits. But it’s got to be pretty close.

Mr. Chatterjee’s speech was interrupted many times by the sound of antelopes thundering by, which turned out to be people thumping their palms on their desks. This seems to be a local version of applause, a fact that became apparent as the camera panned the audience, and HOLY COW, wait a minute—everybody’s wearing all white, head to toe! This is like a convention of Good Humour men. So, Mr. Chatterjee might not be that sick, after all…

Read the full story here: Hack for hire

Illustration courtesy The Washington Post