Saturday, January 31, 2009

Personal Background

My name is Tilak. Apart from academics, I was actively engaged with Friends' Club (FC) (An Intellectuals' Assembly) a non-profit institution. I became the secretary of the club in the year 2005. As the secretary of FC, my responsibilities included selection, supervision & personality development of the members of the Club. I also participated and compeered many debates and discussions on issues of socio-politico-economic importance. I also won first prize for my entry” The Future of Rashtra Bhasha in India" in June 2007 in Pratiyogita Darpan (Eng.).

One of the greatest experiences of my life was working for flood victims in 2004, collecting funds for Tsunami victims in Jan 2005 and organizing a seminar in Jan 2006 which gave me immense experience of working in a team of intellectuals, sponsors and of course the common milieu. That exposure also helped in improving my communication skills significantly.

My greatest strength is my belief in my abilities for which the credit goes to the circumstances I was blessed with. Working for flood victims I discovered what Amala Rodrigues once said that strangely suffering touches human heart deeper than pleasure. My experience was similar while collecting funds for Tsunami victims. Albeit, sufferings alone should not be the axis of distribution of rights and privileges, but managing human being, the greatest of all the resources.

The year was 2006 when the thought of journalism first came to my mind. The inspiration was an interview, of mine, by a journalist. The one thing that the journalist said to me after the interview was over was, ‘you are sensitive, and someone like you should be a journalist’. At that time I was preparing for MBA. The reason, ultimately myself, though, my state of affairs too had a role. I had to prepare for MBA for the next two years.


At the end of the year 2008 I had calls from two reputed institutes to opt from. One was a reputed management programme run by the University of Delhi. Another was the offer to pursue masters in journalism from one of the most reputed journalism schools on India, AJKMCRC. An MBA degree would have given far more secure career than journalism. Actually monetary consideration would have never allowed me to join journalism.

But the one thing that prompted me to go for journalism was that there are many ways to earn but few to give back. I believe my nurturing has implanted in me that money has to be the last criteria to think of.

I come from a very humble background. My father is a teacher. His dedication towards his students has always been a source of inspiration for both me and my sister. My mother always taught us never to go for short-cuts and be patient.

I don’t claim to be a perfect man. But I believe I have always done things differently. I have always inspired those around me and every action of mine has and always had a human angle.

I just want to reinvent, repossess myself every next moment for a greater cause.

Sound effects in soap operas

The main characteristics that define soap operas are "an emphasis on family life, personal relationships, sexual dramas, emotional and moral conflicts. They also cover topical issues and are normally set in familiar domestic interiors with only occasional excursions into new locations. Soap narratives, like those of film melodramas, are marked by 'chance meetings, coincidences, missed meetings, sudden conversions, last-minute rescues and revelations. These elements are found across the gamut of soap operas, from EastEnders to Dallas.

The characters are frequently attractive, seductive, glamorous and wealthy. Soap operas from Australia to United Kingdom to India tend to focus on more everyday characters and situations, and are frequently set in working class environments. Soap operas explore realistic storylines such as family discord, marriage breakdown, or financial problems. Romance, secret relationships, extramarital affairs, and genuine love have also been the basis for many soap opera storylines.

Stunts and complex physical action are largely absent as extensive post production work, while possible, is not feasible for the genre due to the high output each week and normally low budgets.

Indian soap operas are often mass-produced under large production banners, with houses like Balaji Telefilms—run by Ekta and Shobha Kapoor. Soap operas like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagii Ki, Kusum, Kavyanjali, Kahiin To Hoga , Kasam Se use two dialogue dimensions simultaneously, timbre in dialogue and other sound is effects to enrich the visual aesthetic and work with them to emphasize the overall meaning.


Music, dialogue and noise - or the absence of it has a profound impact on soap operas. It is used to enhance drama and to help illustrate the emotional content in the story. It is also used to manipulate the feelings and sentiments of viewers. This is universal, whether you watch domestic or foreign content.

Ambient sound is just as important. Animal sounds, flushing toilets, throwing objects together, crushing paper, dropping things on surfaces or rubbing things together - all these techniques get interesting sounds that fit the scenes in a film or show. These sounds can be used to surprising and unexpected ways if used creatively.

Silence is also used to dramatize effect. Too much music can grate on the nerves. Beats of silence can be put in to a scene or it can be used as an element to underscore something or someone and it can be just as dramatic and effective as music. It, like music, can overwhelm viewers and may have to be pulled back, which can make it more impactful, more visceral.
Again the suggestive nature of the music is an important element because it works with the thriller theme to build tension and suspense. No one has actually heard a dinosaur roar yet the audience accepts the mix of animal noises in Jurassic Park.

Overall, music and sound are an integral part of any production including Soap operas. It helps tell the story, guide the audience and evoke mood, character and themes that can drive home whatever the story is trying to convey.
As technology developed to allow more advanced sound techniques in film, the soundtracks became an integral element of a production and actually play a vital role to sustain low budget soap operas. Finally sound is an important element for the industry in terms of synergy and commercial gain.

PS: Soap are called such because the operas were all sponsered by soap companies in the beginning. It can be anything but one need to take the lead.

Why Journalism

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines journalism as ‘the work of collecting and writing news stories for newspapers, magazines, radio or television’. The definition is limited in the sense that it does not cover what or how or why!

Truly journalism is the fourth pillar of democracy and not simply a profession. With the duty of the profession of journalism come many responsibilities. A journalist is a true messenger, an honest guide and the voice of the voiceless. Of late after continuing with the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and later bringing The Copyright Act, 1957, and the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 the government has also recognised the power of press.

Let’s not forget that a journalist is also a human being. That human beings wherever they are suffer with certain vice and virtues. But the fact remains that a journalist has to be more conscientious than what others are supposed to be. That, a journalist won’t be a journalist, if, he or she craves for money. That a journalist has to be a link between the masses and the classes, the ruler and the ruled, the people and the state. That a Journalist's first obligation is to the truth. That its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover. That it must serve as an independent monitor of power.
I believe that my background and experiences are proof of something called humane at the centre of my thought process. I honestly have faith in the ethical obligations of this profession. For me the greatest joy would be if I can bring hope to those in grief, trust for those who have lost faith and love for those who are hated.
I think that human being should be at the core of any planning. The way industrialization and globalization is submerging the rural, the simple and the gentle voice, humanity is doomed to loose. Might is right can’t be true as might can’t be measured on any single criteria. The criteria when expanded will include every single human being as there can be no human being without a single good quality.

Journalism can play and has played in recent times an active role in rooting out corruption. Journalism can lead to the citizenry being active, society being conscious and in turn a dynamic democracy.

Globalisation has brought with it business conglomerates who control the Press. The result — profits are given more importance than journalistic ethics and people are losing faith in the Fourth Estate. The fundamental role of the press to inform and empower citizens is endangered. A free and independent press is essential to human liberty. No people can remain sovereign without a vigorous press that reports the news, examines critical issues and encourages a robust exchange of ideas. An unbalanced emphasis on profits and financial growth weakens the foundation of journalism as a public trust. In such a situation the responsibility increases even more.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Beauty Will Save the world

Is Paris Burning?
Hitler questioned Alfred Jodl, his chief of staff, on the eve of the liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944. General Dietrich von Choltitz, military governor of Paris, had been ordered to destroy Paris. Choltitz disobeyed.

What inspired Chotitz to disobey Hitler? The ‘turmoil’ inside the man. A man who didn't want to be on the wrong side of history, as a man who caused the destruction of a beautiful city.

Beauty will save the world. Dostoevsky's maxim rings true as we question the core values of art. This is only the sleeping love for art, inside Chotitz, that made him do what none would have expected from an army that executed Holocaust. Truly art can awaken the unconscious inside, the aesthetic, the sense to see nonsense. We will triy to find in this blog the things that matter to the Theory of Aesthetics .

The Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary defines the word art as “the use of the imagination to express ideas or feelings, particularly in painting, drawing or sculpture”. In today’s time when new forms of art are coming every day, this definition can unfold dissent. We thus will also explore the new experiments in art themes on a conceptual level.

Be it antique, modern or contemporary, good quality art is something to covet. Creativity, knowledge and, above all, sensitivity mark out the true masters. We salute rise of one of the most enduring contemporary art genres in India.

Tradition had very strong influences in the art of the times and hence the word ‘traditional’ became part of the lexicon of the art world .Traditionally Royal extravagance and patronage promoted art form. From the Art Nouveau to the emergence of art galleries like, Art Basel, Frieze Art Fair, Chanel Mobile Art through to contemporary jewellery that’s all the rage. We will introduce you to some of the most exotic art galleries in India which are not only beating norms of tradition but invariably emerging as the Sotheby’s of India.

What is unique and common among the works of the royal courts, is the fact that they were all created for the Royal Family by a number of talented artists.But in those days it was considered a sign of weakness for the artist to leave his name on the work. In some countries it was even considered sacrilegious, akin to the artist’s attempt to elevate himself to the stature of God.

But now with new ways of expressing art coming up the trend has been completely reversed. From function to fashion, if there’s one trend that has bucked phases, fads and figures, it is art. Ingenuity, though, becomes the crucial differentiator. We will try to find how new materials are being experimented with to express ideas and emotions.

More than ever though, people today want to be appreciated for their individuality. The clothes they wear and the trends they follow are the silent means by which they express who they are and how they feel. Though, the tradition of quality, specialty and craftsmanship continues today. We discover the elixir of youth and dynamism as we introduce you to those who became famous and fabulous well into their youth.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Oh! Those Letters...

Mobile has changed the way of our life. But it also took away something I and probably many of us would have loved to bargain for. The joy of writing and of course reading a letter.
There was a time when letters were written. We waited for one every next morning. The days when it came, we read and re-read it. We planned for how to reply, what to reply, when to reply. We thought and thought how I should address, what things I should not write. Actually letters became the mirror of our self in the reader’s eyes. But somehow it fell at the onslaught of this audio medium.
We never thought if ever we would stop writing letters. Now I doubt if we would ever stop talking on mobile, or for that matter mobile will become a victim of some new technology. As of now, probably ‘NO’.
Let me ask you one question, do any of you miss writing a letter? At least when you read some old letter in your Granny’s locker or your pa’s file. Go and ask your parents how they felt when they received a letter. How they were excited when they first talked to someone sitting thousands of mile away? And how they feel that postman knocking at the door when that old ragged postcard or inland letter suddenly is found. Yes that must be exciting.
Personally, I feel, letters had that ‘distance creates love phenomenon’ not found with mobiles. The problem has aggravated also because we have become self-centred. Also because we want others not to share, because we never become friends now. We remain partners, we remain competitors, and we remain successes or failures. Our success which is defined in bizarre terms today has nothing to do with that human touch which should ideally bind a man with a man.
We have come closer to move away. We talk to share, our hobbies, our achievements, our beliefs and our ideologies but not what we are. Letters gave the scope to say many things without saying every thing.
That old world’s majestic charm…! Alas could be brought back, just if we try to be more sensible.

Friday, January 23, 2009

On Vulture

In Ramayana, the Hindu epic, there appear two demi-gods who had the form of vultures, Jatayu and his brother Sampaati with whom are associated stories of courage and self-sacrifice . Although the vulture plays an important natural role, in the Western world, and of late in India also its image is quite negative.

Vultures are scavenging birds, feeding mostly on the carcasses of dead animals. Except Antarctica and Oceania, , Vultures are found on everywhere. Vultures seldom attack healthy animals as they feed on the wounded or sick. In hot regions like ours these birds are of great value as scavengers.

According to available reports, 99 per cent of the country’s vulture population has vanished mainly because they have been consuming carcasses of cows treated with an anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac Sodium. This has been caused by the practice of medicating working farm animals with diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with anti-inflammatory and pain killing actions. Its manufacturing was banned in 2006.

The decline in vultures has led to serious hygiene problems in India as carcasses of dead animals now tend to rot, or be eaten by rats or wild dogs, rather than be tidied up by vultures. Rabies among these other scavengers is a major health threat. India has one of the world's highest incidences of rabies. The decline in vultures causes particular problems for certain communities, such as the Parsi, who practice sky burials, where the human dead are put on the top of ‘Towers of Silence’ and are eaten by vultures, leaving only dry bones.

The rising number of vultures recently in the Jim Corbett national park in Uttarakhand finally promises to give some hope. The positive reports about the population are significant considering a wide concern that vultures may soon become extinct.
“No doubt vulture population is decreasing in our country and wildlife experts are concerned. But I am very happy that I sighted over 100 vultures of three different species here. There are at least 20 pairs of Seyranian, there are around 35 pairs of Himalayan vultures and we even saw the cylinder built birds. This is a very good symbol. I am very happy,” said P.K. Patro, Divisional Forest Officer, Ramnagar.
Scientists warn that Asian vultures can become extinct within a decade unless the livestock drug blamed for their rapid demise is eliminated.
Vultures find a place in Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the country’s only legal framework to protect endangered species, which prohibits hunting and trafficking of endangered species. Its high time we do not ignore the issue further.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Global Meltdown and India

Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, delivering the Tenth L. K. Jha Memorial Lecture at Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai, on November 26th 2007 on ‘The growing importance of emerging economies in the globalized world and its implications for the international financial architecture’ said –“It is never time for complacency. The next crisis is always different from the previous one. Both industrialised and emerging countries have to continue to work to keep up with new developments and challenges. Efforts to ensure global stability and prevent crises have to be made constantly, by all of us, and should be guided by the principles of transparency, good practices and dialogue between relevant players.”
The financial meltdown has resulted in effective nationalisation of major financial institutions in the US, UK and Europe. So far global banks, mortgage lenders and insurance firms have announced write downs of over US$ 800 billion. There has been a massive increase in central bank lending to the banking system and rescue packages totalling almost US$3 trillion have been announced by governments around the world. Monetary policy has been eased aggressively but given the lagged impact attention has shifted to fiscal policy.

The global financial situation continues to be uncertain and unsettled. What started off as a sub-prime crisis in the US housing mortgage sector has turned successively into a global banking crisis, global financial crisis and now a global economic crisis. The contagion has traversed from the financial to the real sector; and it now looks like the recession will be deeper and the recovery longer and painful.

The IMF has revised its forecast for global growth from 3.9 to 3.7 per cent for 2008, and from 3.0 to 2.2 per cent for 2009. Notably, advanced economies, as a group, are projected to contract by 0.3 per cent in 2009. If all this were indeed to come true, 2009 will mark the first year on record when emerging economies will be the sole contributors to global growth.

The Indian Scenario
India’s share in world exports of goods and services tripled between the early 1990s and 2006, to close to 1.5%, with a notable acceleration in the last three years, due to dynamic exports of services, including IT and IT-enabled services. Going by the common measure of globalisation, India’s two way trade (merchandise exports plus imports), as a proportion of GDP, grew from 21.2 per cent in 1997/98, the year of the Asian crisis, to 34.7 per cent in 2007/08. If we take an expanded measure of globalisation, that is the ratio of gross current account and gross capital flows to GDP, this ratio has increased from 46.8 per cent in 1997/98 to 117.0 per cent in 2007/08. These numbers are clear evidence of India’s increasing integration into the world economy over the last 10 years. The decoupling theory has almost completely lost credibility.

The endeavour of our monetary policymakers has been to balance growth, inflation and financial stability concerns. By managing liquidity – both domestic and forex – it tries to ensure that credit continues to flow for productive activities. When inflation surged earlier this year, the RBI moved quickly to suck out excess liquidity. Then again, as oil prices softened and decline in inflation was expected, RBI has its monetary adjusted by reducing Cash Reserve Ratio (the portion of deposit banks have to keep with RBI) and repo rate(the rate at which RBI lends to other banks). Since mid September 2008, the RBI has reduced repo rate by 350 basis points from 9 to 5.5 per cent, reduced the reverse repo rate (the rate at which RBI borrows from banks) by 200 bps from 6 to 4 per cent and by 400 bps from 9 to 5 per cent. The cumulative amount of liquidity made available to finance system through these measures is over Rs 3, 00,000 crore.

Why the crisis in India?

Despite Indian banking system not being directly exposed to the sub-prime mortgage assets, or to the US mortgage market, or to the failed institutions or stressed assets, how come we landed into trouble? Also Indian banks, both in the public sector and in the private sector, are financially sound, well capitalised and well regulated.

Even so, India is experiencing the effects of the global crisis, through the monetary, financial and real channels. Our financial markets – equity markets, money markets, forex markets and credit markets – have all come under pressure mainly because of what is being called ‘the substitution effect’. As credit lines and credit channels overseas went dry, some of the credit demand earlier met by overseas financing shifted to the domestic credit sector, putting pressure on domestic resources. The reversal of capital flows taking place as part of the global de-leveraging process has put pressure on our forex market. Together, the global credit crunch and deleveraging were reflected at home in the sharp fluctuation in the money market rates in October 2008 and the depreciation of the rupee.

The Road Ahead

The outlook for India is mixed. The real GDP growth has moderated in the first half of 2008-09. Industrial activity, particularly in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, is decelerating. The services sector too, which has been our prime growth engine for the last five years, is slowing, mainly in the construction, transport and communication, trade, hotels and restaurants sub-sectors. Recent data indicate that the demand for bank credit is slackening despite comfortable liquidity in the system. Higher input costs and dampened demand have dented corporate margins while the uncertainty surrounding the crisis has affected business confidence. It will be tough for investors and businessmen to commit money to buy shares or fund new projects till there is more clarity on the extent of the slowdown and how long it will last.
On a positive note the fundamentals of our economy are stronger than is often recognised. India’s growth has been based on a sustained rise in the capital formation and gross savings rate as a percentage of GDP. FIIs have already started coming back. There has been a net inflow of FII funds in December 2008. This is seen in the Sensex rising from 8K to around 10k presently.
The focus of our attention must shift to the real economy. India needs growth in its core sectors, especially manufacturing, construction and agriculture. The western countries are not likely to be growth propellant for us. We have to depend on domestic demand, which will sustain our growth. There are few lessons to be learnt: uncontrollable greed, over leveraging and debt is not good for the economy; putting profit as a motivator over and above people is not a good idea; and living on credit is simply bad lifestyle.

The projections for long-term growth, based on demographic trends and models of capital accumulation and productivity, tell us that emerging markets like India are likely to become even weightier in the world economy tomorrow than they are today. Will 2009 be the beginning of India’s journey to become an economic superpower?

Tilak Jha
MACJ (P)

Monday, January 19, 2009

Art n Technology

Book-Review
From Technological to Virtual Art
Frank Popper

The MIT Press
Cambridge, England
January 2007
7 x 9, 471 pp., 154 illus.
$48.00/£30.95 (CLOTH)
SALE! $33.60/£30.95 *
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ISBN-10:
0-262-16230-X
ISBN-13:
978-0-262-16230-2

Ever heard of technology-inspired art? What about "Light and Movement in Art"? Can technology and virtuality allow us to think differently about our humanness? To think better? To become more human?
Here is a book that ponders over the idea of virtual art flowing out of technological art. How does virtual art relate to truth? The epistemological question. How does virtual art relate to being? The ontological question. And finally, how does the virtualization of art relate to the other? The ethical question …particularly important in light of today’s abundant globalization.
Renowned aesthetician, art theorist, curator, teacher and critic Frank Popper, in his recent book, “From Technological to Virtual Art”, gives an insightful overview of the technological arts by clarifying the concept of 'virtual art.' He outlines its historical development and explains its ability to immerse the body and senses of its participants in a simulated world. He traces the development of immersive, interactive new media art from its historical antecedents through today's digital, multimedia, and networked art. He argues further that what distinguishes the artists who practice virtual art from traditional artists is their combined commitment to aesthetics and technology. Their "extra-artistic" goals—linked to their aesthetic intentions—concern not only science and society but also basic human needs and drives.

Virtual model the author proposes has its epistemological, ontological and ethical connotations. But it has also its aesthetic and philosophical "humanist" sides that should allow us to better understand the multiple existential changes that our society and every individual undergo at the present.

The emphasis is on the different aspects—technical, aesthetic, and extra-artistic—
demonstrated by contemporary artists the author has encountered personally or on the Net. Chapters 1 and 2 are historical sections based very much on author’s personal experience. Chapter 1 covers his own personal itinerary from 1918 up to 1967. The year 1967 marks the end of kinetic art and the preliminary phase of socially engaged art as well as the beginning of a new technically dominated era in art. The second chapter, running from 1968 to 1983—the year of the exhibition of “Electra: Electricity and Electronics in the Art of the Twentieth Century”,—covers the different new technologies adopted by artists and leads to what can be named the virtual or digitally assisted art of the present. Somehow these dates also correspond to some outstanding historical events: 1918 saw the end of the First World War, 1967–68 was the year of the student revolution, and 1983 signalled the moment when a certain number of technological innovations, such as the Internet, were becoming reality.
In these historical chapters, the author takes most of virtual art’s artistic origins as well as technical sources like cybernetic and programmed art, and participatory and environmental, telematics, interactive networks, and satellite, video art into account. The effort is also to give some general and several individual examples of art movements and artists that can be regarded as prototypes for the contemporary virtual artists described in chapters 3 through 6.
Chapter 3, the first of the sections on current virtual art and artists, is devoted to materialized digital-based work. This work, which at first sight may resemble more traditional art, is nonetheless virtual (or virtualized) by digital techniques and so takes on a totally different dimension. Although the main aesthetico-technical category involved in chapter 3 is perception and the image, the works can be subcategorized into plastic, cognition, and bio-aesthetic issues.
Chapter 4 deals with multimedia off-line works. In addition to the main theme of multi-sensoriality, it includes secondary aesthetic items such as language, narration, hypertext and synaesthesia as well as socio-political and security issues.
Chapter 5 is based on interactive digital installations and its main aesthetic theme is indeed interactivity. It comprises sub themes such as sensory immersion and reciprocal aesthetic propositions, and looks at individual, social, environmental, and scientific commitments toward interactivity.
Finally, chapter 6, devoted to Net art and multimedia online works, explores artistic communication via the Internet along with the secondary aesthetic subjects of the Internet as a social communications option, personal presence and critical attitudes on the Net, and telematic and telerobotic human commitments.

To explain and illustrate the globalization of virtuality and the emergence of techno-aesthetics, the book deals with two leading lines of discussion: the technical and the aesthetic. The technical line, leads continuously from materialized digital-based work to multimedia on-line works (re: net art), passing through multimedia and multi-sensorial off-line works into the all-important interactive digital installations. The aesthetic line leads from cognitive to telematic and telerobotic human issues in a coherent and uninterrupted style with a beginning and an end. Thus it touches a good number of extra-aesthetic regions, such as the political, economic, biological and other scientific areas. These areas are always treated with a certain distance and within an aesthetic context - as well as with an aesthetic finality. This explains the globalized open-endedness of this virtual work.

The hard bound edition with a modernistic appearance and the good quality of paper is an added advantage for a book like this. The book can be used as a reference post.

Tilak Jha
MACJ (Previous)

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