MxMIndia

Category: COLUMNS

  • There have been some serious questions asked about whether Times Now under Goswami practised journalism at all, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Arnab Goswami’s Newshour: Journalism or Theatrics?

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    It’s the biggest media news of the week, no question there. Hell, the year, the decade or at any rate since November 2008. Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Times Now, emperor of the Newshour, copyright holder of “The Nation Wants to Know”, asker of the “Burning Question”, ruler of the airwaves, has quit. Of course, you already knew that, even if you’ve been living on Mars. The Indian nation which wants to know is hampered neither by geographical boundaries nor by the limits of space communication.

     

    It’s the biggest media news definitely. But what does it mean for journalism? For at least a year, if not more, there have been some serious questions asked about whether Times Now under Goswami practised journalism at all, at least not in the way most of us journalists understand it. This is after making allowances for the allowances that television makes with journalism.

     

    There have always been journalists who think it is their duty to toe the government line. But Goswami seemed to take that several notches further, he took up cudgels on behalf of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and fought battles on its behalf. Anyone who disagreed with the government was anti-national and guilty of treason.

     

    In his emotional farewell speech to his team, in a video easily available on the internet, Goswami is heard saying: “Don’t lose faith in independent India… Nobody can teach us independent media. It has come and I have been able to do it only because of you.”

     

    There is no question that Goswami’s brand of primetime news debates took the nation by storm. Since he shot into the limelight during Times Now’s coverage of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, he has come a very long way. He was no longer the man in the background, playing second-fiddle to those who were the then Star News’s star anchors, Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai.

     

    He slowly built his own distinct identity as he built up an identity for his show. He put up one of the best defences of women’s rights I have heard on Indian television. He took up people’s issues which other news channels did not.

     

    But as time passed, and especially since May 2014, Newshour became less about journalism and more about melodramatic theatrics from both the anchor and the panellists. It also became about all-out support for the government at the Centre. And it made that fatal mistake for journalists – it stopped asking questions of the authorities. How often has Goswami repeated his “never ever never never ever” outrage with any member of the BJP, as he had done with BJP member Meenakshi Lekhi, after the BJP came to power at the Centre?

     

    That the Bennett Coleman management and Goswami seemed a bit out of sync has been evident for a while. There were strong rumours that Goswami was on his way out earlier this year as the group’s flagship newspaper The Times of India and Times Now seemed at odds with each other. However, on February 29, the “editors” of the group put out a statement which put forth the idea that BCCL is a “federal structure” where each media outlet within the group can follow its own path.

     

    The statement made some intriguing points, if you read between the lines: “Federalism in this Indian tradition is, therefore, a balance between two conflicting forces that always apply to any collective human endeavour – authority and liberty. Neither can exist on its own, both need to feed off each other, and they always challenge each other. Progress is a tug of war between authority and liberty. Federalism provides for the best solution to this conflict because, while there is an authority, the powers of that authority are limited by liberty, and those powers diminish as the collective grows.”

     

    But perhaps even such hi-falutin’ thinking has its limitations. Over the past few weeks, tweets from BCCL managing director Vineet Jain have shown a complete dissonance with Times Now over the news channel’s stance on Pakistani artistes performing in India. Jain emphasised the need for India to stand up for its liberal ethos and encourage “soft power”. If Times Now had that much courage, it would have dubbed its own managing director a pro-Pakistani traitor, the way it had TV journalist Barkha Dutt and indeed every person who disagreed with the government on its Pakistan policy.

     

    In Goswami’s farewell speech he also said, “We have nothing but our professional ability.” That is absolutely true. But it is also evident that the definition of professionalism is not absolute. The way Goswami has practised it in recent times is not the way journalism deserves to be practised.

     

    There are rumours that Goswami is looking to start his own news channel to “challenge the hegemony of the West” or, conversely, that he and a BJP-inclined MP and a Murdoch-owned TV conglomerate will launch Fox News in India. We wish him well and are certain he will thrive especially in Rumour 2!

     

    **

     

    What will happen to Times Now? I have no doubt it will survive because everyone knows that no one is indispensible. But as Pradyuman Maheshwari, editor-in-chief of MxMIndia has pointed out on this website, Times Now’s problem is that it has not built up a second line. So Times Now may take a while to recover.

     

    And as fellow MxM columnist Jaisurya Das stated in a recent column: “Well, this is left to be seen but I certainly don’t envy the TOI group at this stage. They over-marketed him and now face serious brand erosion. One man, one show and the entire media house rides on him…”

     

    **

     

    Interestingly, here’s Akshaya Mukul of The Times of India and winner of a Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism on why he refused to accept the award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “I cannot live with the idea of Modi and me in the same frame, smiling at the camera even as he hands over the award to me.”

     

    Mukul, a senior journalist, won the award for his book The Making of Hindu India. He referred in his refusal to attend the event to the events at Patiala House Court in February this year, when journalists were attacked by lawyers led by a BJP member, OP Sharma.

     

    Well there are journalists and there are journalists within a “federal structure”, right?

     

  • As it happens, the "journalist" who dubbed Dutt "anti-national" for not being angry enough about Pakistan is now out of a job, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Sensitive on Pathankot or Barkha Dutt?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    NDTV India has been told to go off the air for one day on November 9. This is punishment as decided by the information and broadcasting ministry, because the news channel showed “sensitive” footage of the Pathankot attack in January this year.

     

    The channel has responded by saying that it showed no more or less than what any other news channel had shown at the time. The decision to take NDTV India off-air has now apparently been “suspended”, presumably after the outrage from almost all media outlets, barring perhaps Subhash Chandra of Zee who reportedly wants this rival channel banned completely. Quelle surprise.

     

    Several arguments come to mind, but let’s get rid of the irrelevant digressions first. Yes, the Congress-led UPA government also took channels off air. The worst sufferer was Comedy Central since humour offends all sensitive people in India (though oddly the only time Indian comedian Kapil Sharma was deemed offensive was when he was serious about bribery in the Mumbai municipal corporation). Earlier, under other governments, wispy women in wispy attire on Fashion TV made several politicians swallow their false teeth so the channel also had to switch off again and on again depending on the level of Indian culture “hurt” by Jean Paul Gaultier or Karl Lagerfeld or whoever.

     

    So yes, other TV channels have been forced to go off air but a news channel? When did media outlets last get blackened out? (Shhh, don’t mention the word “Emergency” because those who fought the Emergency the most really don’t like it when you being up similarities…)

     

    The other digression by BJP fans is that NDTV (the English one) is being taught a lesson and the usual arguments about how BJP followers don’t like Barkha Dutt are trotted out. Sadly, this makes no sense. If Dutt is the target then, why suspend NDTV India and punish Ravish Kumar? If Dutt is an evil anti-national according to Fans of the BJP, then how will taking the Hindi brand of NDTV off-air help the “cause”? And as it happens, the “journalist” who dubbed Dutt “anti-national” for not being angry enough about Pakistan is now out of a job.

     

    Arnab Goswami’s News Hour will continue until mid-November says the latest statement from the Times Network. For an idea on how Goswami’s employers view “anti-nationalism” and Pakistan, please do go and have a look at Vineet Jain’s tweets. There is bombastic power on camera and there is velvet-glove-iron-fist power off camera.

     

    The idea to take NDTV India off-air has backfired. The condemnation has been strong and swift.

     

    This is the Editors’ Guild: “The decision to take the channel off the air for a day is a direct violation of the freedom of the media and therefore the citizens of India and amounts to harsh censorship imposed by the government reminiscent of the Emergency. This first-of-its-kind order to impose a blackout has seen the Central government entrust itself with the power to intervene in the functioning of the media and take arbitrary punitive action as and when it does not agree with the coverage. There are various legal remedies available to both a citizen and a state in the Court of Law to have action taken for any irresponsible media coverage. Imposing a ban without resorting to judicial intervention or oversight violates the fundamental principles of freedom and justice. The Editors Guild of India calls for an immediate withdrawal of the ban order.”

     

    This is the Broadcast Editors’ Association: “Broadcast Editors’ Association expresses deep concern at the government’s decision to ban NDTV India for a day. Imposing a ban is a violation of freedom of expression and the decision should be withdrawn immediately. BEA would go into the issue in detail and come out with a comprehensive report on it.”

     

    Incidentally, the biggest problem with the Pathankot attack, for any lay person and especially for a journalist, is the lack of preparedness at the base and intelligence failures in the establishment. Blaming the messenger is an old tactic but it doesn’t change the fact that terrorists waltzed in and held an Indian Air Force base for days, as Union ministers lied about what was going on.

     

    **

     

    As if the Ratan Tata-Cyrus Mistry public, no-holds-barred fight was not bad enough, Bombay House now has an extra black mark against it. Security staff hired by the Tata group brutally beat up photojournalists outside Bombay House last week. Three people are still in hospital. The Mumbai Press Club has organised a silent protest march today, Tuesday November 8 at 2.30 pm, from Hutatma Chowk to Bombay House.

     

     

  • Most of the places I have had the opportunity to work for, MWA was a necessary part of organisational culture, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: The forgotten art of ‘Managing By Walking Around’

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    In my career, I worked with a lot many professionals managers, who were also great human beings. They helped shape my approach in life. Under their expert tutelage, I was introduced to the hugely potent management tool; the art of ‘Managing By Walking Around’ (MWA). I am a great fan of it. Most of the places I have had the opportunity to work for, MWA was a necessary part of organisational culture.

     

    The new breed of managers, over-dependent on whatsapp, mails, SMS, chats, Skype is missing a trick or two. Let me share a small story here.

     

    During the period, the incident happened, I was directly reporting to one of the directors (D) in one of my corporate avatars. Every morning, ‘D’ while walking to his cabin would interact with as many employees as he could possibly do. My cabin was right in his path. Invariably ‘D’ stopped by and would toss a harmless innocent question ‘What’s happening’. The question would result in triggering a nervous reaction in me. The result, I would start ticking off the list of problematic items with him.

     

    It took me time to realise: it was D’s way of remaining in touch with the team. This MWA allowed him to conduct a cool no-negative check in the fastest possible time.

     

    One of my juniors, who was long in the organisation came to my rescue. He shared a secret with me. He saw the problem in my listing of points in reply to D’s otherwise harmless question. He recommended that instead of listing problem areas, I should start sharing jobs that were on track, Jobs, where the team was really doing well. Events that were under control. He with his experience came to a valid conclusion; ‘D’ did not remember the jobs with his direct managers, and MWA was his tool of keeping his finger on the pulse of the departments. The junior whispered, do not lie even if you do not share the complete truth. Share more only when probed.

     

    Once I adapted the practice, my life became simplified. Moreover, ‘D’ was happy hearing everything was good. In effect, his perception of me as an effective team leader reached newer heights.

     

    Stopping at the canteen, eating together, the morning review over a coffee, finding time for informal get-together, meeting after office hours, celebrating successes, wiping away failures over a beer and peeping into team’s work area for a quick conversation is some of the tools used by MWA practitioners. I should know. I was one of them.

     

    MWA makes you to be perceived as more approachable, trusting, connected, part of the team and less intimidating. Tags, we all want to carry. The positive result of MWA is quick reaction, proactive behaviour, openness, knowledge transfer and trust that naturally emerge with such interactions. You get to know of the problems, much before they turn serious. You are better placed to guide and coach the team through a relevant solution. You are able to tap on the organizational grapevine. Tactical information is easy to get and people are surprisingly more willing to help you out, because they want to and not because they should.

     

    A win-win solution!

     

    MWA can be of great help in creating your ‘BRAND-I’. When you want to take those deliberate planned steps to help create your personal brand. MWA practitioners are seen as more knowledgeable, culturally right and organizationally active leaders. Well handled, it can become one of the pillars of your success.

     

    If you are one of the seniors in an organisation, you may vaguely remember your frontline days and agree that the landscape of business is literally morphing at a fast pace. Trust me, you can leverage MWA to tweak and update your knowledge sphere. You become more alert, alive to the business requirement and develop an in-depth understanding of front-line issues.

     

    MWA is a deliberate strategy of frequent informal wandering through the office area. Creating a participating environment of spontaneity of discussing work, asking questions and helping wherever required.

    It sounds simple, but it is a twin-edged sword. If not practiced rightly, it can be an efficiency killer.

    MWA is all about your approach to interaction and engagement. It is not about a mere physical presence. If the teams see you actively listening and contributing, they surely will appreciate and become co-drivers of your agenda. You are in the crosswire. People are watching you. They will detect biases, even when none exist. So, if they get the sense of excessive supervision, or it being faked, they will be smart enough to find their own way out.

    MWA cannot be forced. It is something that you should want. You are into MWA it or you are out of it. There is no part-MWA. MWA demands an inclusive way of working. It is for you to define what you want from MWA and take proactive actions in attaining the results.

     

    When you are out in your MWA rounds, you must listen, suggest and guide. You must only make promises that you have intentions to keep. Just like alumni makes an institution, your action and implicit behaviour define the success of MWA and your ‘Brand-I’. You need to earn trust, otherwise you can end up being seen as a spy to senior management. You need to understand individuals and teams, and their need for intangible support. You cannot paint everyone with the same brush.

    If you are new to MWA, your inability to start the practice is understandable. You need to nudge yourself and stop using your busy schedule as an excuse. Many of you will be tense just visualising the ritual. It helps being a natural extrovert. However, you do not always have choices.

    Remember, the teams can easily sense your nervousness. To be successful MWA manager, you need to be relaxed and inviting for people to respond positively. For this, you need to adapt to the norms of the arena you walk in. Being one of the teams is an easy statement and a tough practice.

    If you are now ready to take your baby steps in the glorious world of MWA. You should be on guard to self-evaluate and fine-tune your actions. Differentiate between being assertive versus aggressive, listening versus hearing and inquisitive versus intrusive. You should be willing to observe and listen more. Get the team to contribute to success and changes that makes their lives simpler and pleasant.

    MWA needs your complete attention and dedication. The aim is to build quick rapport. Watch out and keep your side of the deal.  There is more harm in sharing half-truths or being the source of rumours than being transparent and honest in your dealings. .

    If you make a promise, keep it. If there are issues or obstacles that prevent you from delivering, please come back and share with the team.

    As a practitioner MWA, your approach is under scrutiny. Keep your interactions straight, seek result areas and look for success. Compliment people doing great work. Create warm personal positive environment around you. Use MWA interactions to drive home company’s culture, vision, mission and values. Create that alignment of individual, team and organizational goals.

    The other challenge in MWA is to achieve a balance between personal and professional life. Chat with team members about their non-professional life. Gauge their comfort level and try knowing their families. In advertising, I was taught to know the client’s family, his dog and spouse. It really did wonders, but you may not need go that far.

    There is a thin line between MWA and irritating-MWA. Too much and you get branded with over supervision and an insecure senior. Something that will work against you and the process of empowering teams. Do not overdo MWA to an extent that it starts becoming a distraction and a legitimate excuse within the team.

    The worst you can do is to be predictable in your MWA timing. Everyone will be extra-aware and alert for that walk. You will lose the element of spontaneity and randomness. Let me rephrase, you lose.

    So, be spontaneous. Be regular, frequent but random in your timing of MWA. And remember, It helps to be warm, fresh and a good listener at all your MWA stops in the organisation.

     

  • One perhaps unpalatable truth is that almost everyone read the American presidential election wrong, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Ears to the ground? USA: No, India on demonetisation: Yes

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So everyone got it wrong about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton: Pollsters, analysts, political observers, politicians, journalists, women, African Americans, Hispanics and even the world in general. Barring perhaps Vladmir Putin and Julian Assange. But let’s leave the conspiracy theories aside for a bit.

     

    One perhaps unpalatable truth is that almost everyone read the American presidential election wrong. And almost everyone most likely projected their own ideas on their “expert views”. The other unpalatable truth is that polling is no longer coming up with the right answers enough times. Indian pollsters are now notorious for getting it wrong more times than they get it right. The Brexit pollsters got it wrong. The US pollsters got it wrong.

     

    This cannot mean that polling itself is redundant but that some methods need to change. A rethink, rejig, recalibration, whatever you want to call it, is required.

     

    As for journalists, what is wrong is even worse. It means that too many people do not have their ears to the ground. They pick up what they think is right or what they think should happen. But somewhere across the people of America and members of the Electoral College, something else was brewing. It could have been so completely secret so, chances are, these views and opinions were being ignored or dismissed as unimportant.

     

    And then there are the conspiracy theories, starting with the timing of the Wikileaks’ leaks on Hillary Clinton’s emails, allegations of Russian hackers working against Clinton, the FBI’s release of those emails and then after stirring the pot declaring her innocent of wrongdoing, Facebook’s alogorithms which were pro-Trump, the Alt-Right’s silent online movement to get Trump elected – there are any number of these doing the rounds in blogs and in the mainstream media.

     

    Perhaps then hardened journalists could have kept one eye on what was happening online as well? Definitely, lessons aplenty here as the world comes to terms with The Donald as Leader of the Free World.

     

    Meanwhile, there all those horrifying stories of racist attacks on non-white people across America and protest rallies as well.

     

    **

     

    Back home, we were hit by the Prime Minister’s sneak attack on Black Money and the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes within hours of his speech on November 8. The media could have hit a congratulatory note here and stayed on its cheerleading course. But much as no honest person in India supports either tax evasion or black money collection, the suddenness of the move shocked everyone.

     

    All forms of the media concentrated on the hardships faced by what we call the “common man”. Massive queues at banks, daily wage labourers with no bank accounts who scrimped and saved what is now worthless paper, hospitals, chemists, petrol pumps unaware that they were supposed to accepted demonetised notes, patients being turned away, dying and more horrific stuff.

     

    Newspaper editorials have hailed the move and the intent but questioned the lack of forethought. Other commentators have been more scathing. Cynics have pointed out that black money hoarders are cleverer than that. On the whole, the media has redeemed itself by concentrating on India’s underprivileged. Some ears to the ground, definitely!

     

  • Journalism can be dizzy and exciting on days like these. As can be news consumption, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: Notes & Votes: When News Becomes Too Hot To Handle

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Two big news events, separated by less than 24 hours, marked an exciting week. The Prime Minister’s address on Tuesday night, to announce the demonetisation of old, high-denomination currency notes caught the media off-guard. Not surprising, given that subsequent reports suggest that even Cabinet members, barring a couple, were not aware of the decision.

     

    What followed was coverage on the go. Between making sense of what has happened, trying to give more information and getting a sense from the ground, Indian news channels and online sites had their task cut out. The sentiment nationwide was extremely positive and pro-Modi, with polls suggesting more than 80% believing it was a positive step.

     

    Now, an average Indian, or even a well-informed one, such as a reader of this column, will know little about the technicalities of the move and the impact it could have on curbing black money circulation in India, in the short run and the long run. Public opinion was driven, hence, not by facts and analysis, but by a feeling of “Wow! How cool is that!”. That it could be done in a “surgical” (can we retire that word, please?) manner with no media leaks, a near impossible task in today’s day and age, made the move come across as a masterstroke.

     

    Subsequent expert opinions have suggested that the move may be limiting in its impact, especially in the long run. Yet, there is not much to fault per se, as it does not have any major pitfalls, except a couple of days of inconvenience, which has not snowballed into anything significant as I write this on Friday morning.

     

    But on Tuesday night, news media was not bothered about financial technicalities anyway. They wanted to play on the sentiment, and build a sense of euphoria. It was as if India had won something major, like a Cricket World Cup or something. The sentiment was infectious. Nowadays, you can use Whatsapp jokes to gauge that. Jokes are jokes, but if you read between the lines, the sentiment – positive (optimistic) or negative (cynical) – is apparent from their sub-text. In this case, it was clearly the former. A few politicians who criticised the move just came across as having a bad sense of timing.

     

    This Tuesday night story stole the thunder from the US Presidential Elections, which had happened the previous day, and whose results were going to come out Wednesday morning India time. An average Indian could not care less about who becomes the US President, if they are worrying about having enough hundred rupee notes to survive the next three days, or about how and when they will exchange their high-denomination currency.

     

    But a substantial section of India is not the “average Indian”. There has been considerable interest in India in the US elections this time, with Donald Trump ensuring that dull moments are far and few in between.

     

    All opinion polls in the US, barring just one, projected that Hillary Clinton will be the next US President. The US media, centered in big cities where Clinton won handsomely, started their coverage assuming she will win. Around 8:30 AM IST, they were sensing they could be wrong. Within an hour of that, they knew it was going to be one Mr Trump, and not one Ms Clinton. After weeks of lead-up analysis on why Clinton will win, they found themselves analysing why Trump won. As seasoned journalist Shekhar Gupta tweeted: “Lessons for US journalists is the oldest one in our biz: Never let your voting preferences color your professional judgment.”

     

    Journalism can be dizzy and exciting on days like these. As can be news consumption. Bring some more!

     

  • Better get out of the studio and take off your blindfolds, Ranjona Banerji advises news anchors who are critical of all those criticising the demonetisation

    Ranjona Banerji: Damned if you criticise demonitisation

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Glory be. After a couple of days of questioning the rollout of the Union Government’s demonetisation scheme to attack India’s culture of black money, some of our renowned TV anchors were back to questioning those questioning the government. Some like Vikram Chandra on NDTV’s Big Fight seemed to take this criticism personally. Others allowed BJP party members and their supporters to get away with obfuscating the issue.

     

    Newspapers are full of stories about how people are not able to cope with this sudden shortage of cash. Here in Dehradun, one has to salute the local coverage. The Times of India and the Hindustan Times especially have extensively covered problems in rural and remote mountainous areas apart from the long queues at ATMs and banks at urban centres.

     

    However, the general focus of the English media has been on lines outside banks and the problems of urban India. And while the reporters have been out canvassing the views of the people and their problems or gratitude at the government’s move, news anchors on their “discussion” shows have done a neat twist on proceedings. The criticism from those who criticise has been of the implementation of the scheme. But for some TV stars, criticism is equal to approval of black money – which is the BJP’s line. It was shocking to see Nalin Kohli of the BJP accuse Meera Sanyal of AAP of knowing nothing about banking on Barkha Dutt’s show on NDTV, when she is of course a banker who has been at the helm.

     

    Karan Thapar on India Today also seemed to take criticism and anger on the implementation of demonetisation scheme as being pro-black money, which is surprising. Rahul Kanwal on non-discussion shows on the same channel however focused on the problems faced by the general public. CNN-News18, Ambani-owned or not, has started to take (retake) some real good shots at actual journalism (Firstpost too, if I must be fair).

     

    I have to admit that I have not watched Arnab Goswami and Times Now for a while but ads for what must be one of his last News Hours seemed to suggest that he had decided to blame political parties which are not the BJP of not being supportive

     

    So while the media, newspapers and news websites and TV, started out looking at demonetisation from the point of view of the people of India, it did not take news channels long to start focusing only on political parties. In language publications and news channels however, you got a more rounded story. Reporters were sent to more remote areas of India where cash is the only currency and suffering is real. Dainik Jagran had broken an interesting story about new Rs 2000 notes. Bengali channels and newspapers picked up on a story in the CPM mouthpiece Ganashakti that the BJP’s Bengal wing deposited crores into banks just before the

     

    This demonetisation idea has created national panic. Whether the panic is justified is another matter. But it must at least be taken seriously when people are dying, when people are running out of cash, when businesses are struggling. Yet, as we have seen so many times recently, too many of our top journalists, particularly in television, find it easier to just kowtow to the government line than use their good

     

    This is in fact is a good time for the media to investigate our various black money processes, procedures and practices. That might be a more effective way to be a government cheerleader rather than pooh-pooh the problems of the poor who have no money to buy food or who are too scared or illiterate to use bank accounts or even too stupid to use debit and credit cards. I am being sarcastic by the way for those who cannot see it. The attitude of the government is bad enough but for top TV anchors to behave in this manner is shameful. Better get out of the studio and take off your blindfolds. India is bigger than one BJP spokesperson, one Congress spokesperson, one AAP spokesperson and one terrified trade representative who is not going to tell you the truth.

     

  • The Maanyavar commercials differ because these men are more real, writes Alpana Parida in Brand Matters

    Alpana Parida: An Indian brand for men – Maanyavar

    By Alpana Parida

     

    The brand that had become synonymous with wedding fashion for groom has been rightfully championing Indian wear across occasions. A few years ago – the brand played out the quintessential India male fantasy of taking over the sedate wedding with a Caucasian girl and her family by getting all to dance to the bhangra. While it captured the new confidence and aspirations of an emerging India, there was not much to set the brand apart from similar ads across categories – whether of a man choosing to buy a hotel where his dadaji worked, or rejecting an international job in favour of staying in India. A little over the top, the ads were clearly make-believe fantasy, a little brash and could not be classified as progressive.

     

    The recent advertising by the brand brilliantly catches the pulse of the progressive Indian man who has lately been reviled and beleaguered for not sharing the load.  Progressive women are far more ubiquitous. The latest Virat Kohli commercial where he talks of sharing wedding costs or another where the son chooses an Indian kurta pajama for his graduation at Oxford identify a new protagonist rarely seen in Indian advertising. There have been previous instances of the Tanishq man who picks up his wife’s daughter during the ‘pheras’ of his second marriage or the Raymond man understanding his kids or mother. Or even a more recent Ariel commercial of a father apologising to his daughter about not being a good role model to her and now changing by sharing the load. But these have been rare – and have largely been about empowering women.

     

    The Maanyavar commercials differ because these men are more real. Rather than empowering another and revealing their value systems through that, these are more direct windows into the emerging Indian man’s soul. In earlier times, a progressive man would have asked for an austere wedding to spare the girl’s family any expense, and have further said no dowry. This ad resonates with current times, with talk of a large wedding with an abundance of food and celebrations befitting the status of the two families. There is no paring down here – simply a no-nonsense intent of sharing costs stated clearly.

     

    In the other ad, the mother who is asking the son to wear a suit to his graduation is converted when he confronts her in Indian attire with a ‘jaisa desh vaisa bhesh” logic. There is a new Indian confidence here, not looking to beat others at their own game like the Rajnigandha man buying a European hotel. Rather, this is a quiet assertion of identity, of owning ones space on world stage.

     

    As women protagonists have changed significantly in popular culture.  The residual discourse of the hapless women  to empowered women who needed men to give them the space, belief and strength to come into their own, the new women have simply gone ahead with what they want or believe in. They no longer need to be empowered, they are powered themselves. The portrayal of men is in a state of flux right now with bikes and deos harking back to a time of male machismo on the one hand and other ads that call out their hypocritical values, these ads come as a fresh insight into the emerging Indian man. It will take more than a few ads to make Indian men’s wear relevant beyond weddings – but the brand is certainly walking down the right path.

     

  • Time and again, I have seen that when the average professional has to choose between scam ads and bearing inconvenience, they always choose to put up with inconvenience… an interesting spin on the PM’s address of November 8 for the advertising business by Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: Surgical Strike… Free Pitches & Scam Ads no longer accepted

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Like in the speech given by Chatur in the film 3Idiots where certain parts of a speech were replaced, here’s an attempt to do the same with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on November 8, 2016 where he announced the demonetising of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in an attempt to check black money and various other ills. But this one is for the advertising and media industry…

     

    My Dear fellow clients, brand custodians, agencies and other stakeholders.

    I hope you ended the festive season of Diwali with joy and new hope. Today, I will be sharing with you about some critical issues and important decisions that you must make. I want to make a special request to all of you. You may recall the time in your career when you were entrusted with an onerous responsibility. In the context of marketing and selling, it was being said that the ‘Marketing’ in the equation was shaky. Since then, you have ploughed through severe drought of ideas and unreliable research. However, in the recent past, you have been glorified for what has been the contribution and support of all stakeholders. The brand is once again the “bright spot” in any organisation. It is not just the financial papers and the creative teams are saying this; it is being stated by the industry bodies, the syndicated reports, the award committees.

    In this effort for sustained brand big idea, the motto has been ‘one insight- 360-degree campaign’: I need not to add that we are with all media in our pursuit to reach current and potential target consumers.

    The teams in brand, whether at the client or the agency side is dedicated to topline. It will remain dedicated to it. In our fight against competitive pressure and reliable first degree fakes, our main thrust has been to empower the creative and media agencies, and make them active participants in the brand’s success.

    The Cannes week at Nice,

    the Goafest in scorching summer,

    the Adfest in entertaining Pattaya,

    the Effies and EMVIES

    and IAA, ADCLUB, ASCI, MRUC, BARC, INS, ABC, all to ensure that creative get the right award for their original or slightly modified creative under ‘Right to copy’ and ‘Success Transfer’ formula.

    These are all nothing but the reflections of a positive futuristic approach.

    In the past decades, the spectre of digital in media, long-duration viral AV masquerading as TVC and work not based on consumer insight and understanding has grown. It has weakened the effort to notify this legitimate business within the industry. On the one hand, we all have hugely contributed toward economic growth of clowns as brand ambassadors and have won a huge cache of big and small awards by a clutch of identified agencies. On the other hand, we are no where to be seen in the list of the most creative countries’ basis the 3-Ts of Talent, Technology and Tolerance. In spite of many steps taken, we have only been able to reach a ranking of 71 in global technology, 52 in Innovation, 92 in global talent and 92 at racial and ethnic tolerance, now. Of course, there is improvement. This shows the extent to which vague brief, undifferentiated service, limited access and lack of relevant research have spread their tentacles.

    The evil of all this has been spread by a certain set of people in the industry of for their selfish interest. They have ignored the small and marginalised agencies and media and cornered benefits. Some have misused their office for personal gain. On the other hand, honest dedicated highly passionate and creative people have fought against this evil. Thousands of creative men and women have lived lives of integrity.

    We hear about poor copywriter refusing to write a double-meaning viral spot.

    We hear about planners refusing to trade in observations masquerading as insight and going on to do ethnography studies before laying the foundation of any campaign.

    We hear of junior client team members questioning the validity of treating assumptions as fact.

    There comes a time in the history of an industry development when a need is felt for a strong and decisive step. For years, this industry has felt that unaware clients, lack of research, crumbling insights, copy cat communication and trying to exploit are festering sores, holding us back in the race towards development.

    Pitching for no fee is a frightening threat. So many have lost their business because of it. But have you ever thought about how these agencies get their money and creative? Freelancers, consultants from within the industry moonlighting their experience provides the ammunition for incestuous strategies.

    This has been going on for years. Many times, those taking credits for others creative have been caught at the award nights. But nothing happened. Agencies with the whole top-layer at the pitch promising full support to the brand vanished at the hour they are needed.

     

    Fellow industry veterans and youngsters with dreams in your eyes,

     

    On the one hand, is the problem of copying; on the other, is the challenge posed by lack of talent and uninspired clients. We began our battle against all this by setting up specialized committees and industry bodies.

    BARC came to function, and the currency was well-received

    MRUC is struggling but is promising to deliver

    IAA has like a sleeping volcano woken up

    AdClub continues to trot with its awards and reviews

    Goafest is surviving

    Cannes participation has increased in spite of lower margins.

    Global tie-ups are the new fad in town.

    Promising startups are being acquired by giants who are repainting their culture

    ASCI has been in news and taking giant steps. Strong steps have been taken to curb misleading advertisements. Question of celebrity endorsements is debated.

     

    Fellow industry veterans and youngsters with dreams in your eyes,

     

    The magnitude of scam advertisements and free-pitches in circulation is directly linked to the level of brand insight and creative talent in the market. Talent scarcity becomes worse through the work for low fee and ‘anything karega for awards’ syndrome. The smaller agencies have to bear the brunt of this. It has a direct effect on the talent purchasing power of the poor and the middle agencies.

    You may yourself have experienced when briefing for a new campaign, that apart from the amount paid for the core campaign, a large body of work is demanded. This creates problems for an honest professional. The misuse of free pitches as idea aggregator has led to an artificial shortage of real insight, research and investment in understanding brand or consumers. i

    To break the grip, we have decided that the FREE PITCHING and ‘SCAM ADS’ presently, a practice will no longer be the legal process from midnight tonight, that is November 16, 2016.

    This means that no client will be able to call for a fresh free pitch from midnight onwards. The SCAM ADS entered by the unaware clients and under-pressure agencies will become what they really are, just worthless pieces of paper.

    The rights and the interests of honest, hard-working people will be fully protected. Let me assure you that creative of all sizes across media based on insight, approved and paid for release by the client will remain legal and will not be affected.

    This step will strengthen the hands of the creative with dreams in their eyes in the fight against Free Pitching and Scam ads. To minimise the difficulties of Client and agencies in the coming days, several steps are being taken.

    1. Brands holding to old scam creative or otherwise with ready entries will be allowed to submit them in awards till close of entry hours on December 30, 2016 without any limit and prejudice.
    2. Thus you will have 50 days to enter your work and there is no need for panic. Your creative will remain yours. You need to have no worry on this point.
    3. After entering your creative, you will be given 72 hours in which you can withdraw it.
    4. Keeping in mind the talent position, in the first few weeks, there will be a limit of three briefs that the brand can submit to any agency. This limit will be increased in the coming days.
    5. For your immediate needs, you can go to any agency, freelancer or creative hot-shop, share your brand guidelines, commit budgets and get a tactical communication developed.
    6. There may be some who, for some reason, are not able to enter their old scam ads and other creative for awards by December 30, 2016. They can go to specified list of irrelevant awards up to March 31, 2017 and enter it after submitting a declaration from the client or brand owners.
    7. Free Pitches and Scam ads will not be valid processes from midnight. However, for humanitarian reasons, to reduce hardship to the talent and people, some special arrangements have been made for until midnight on 30th November. During this period, accredited agencies, large global MNC and freelancers will continue to make free pitches. This is for the benefit of those who would have lost their business to the same process or have invested a lot expecting results.
    8. Free pitches already called in and scheduled until November 30 is allowed to complete the process. The brands which have called these pitches may submit the schedule along with the list of invited agencies to AAAI by the close of hours on 20th November.
    9. PSUs will continue accepting re-circulated, worthless creative with inflated bills.
    10. Arrangements will be made at the international award shows for entries, to be replaced by non-scam creative.
    11. One more thing I would like to mention, I want to stress that in this entire exercise, there is no restriction of any kind on FEE-BASED PITCHES and GENUINE CREATIVE created by creative, media, digital, freelance or even the brand teams.

     

    Fellow industry veterans and youngsters with dreams in your eyes,

    In spite of all these efforts there may be temporary hardships to be faced by honest creative agencies and clients. Experience tells us that they are always ready to make sacrifices and face difficulties for the benefit of the industry. I see that spirit when a client refuses to release a simple scam ad in an obscure newspaper in northeast even when the agency is willing to pay the cost. When a consultant contributes pro-bono to an NGO work, when a poor freelancer is unwilling to share credit for his work with an art-director at a big agency. I have seen that the real people in the industry have the determination to do anything, if it will lead to our progress.

    So, in this fight against free pitching and scam ads, in this movement for purifying our industry, will our people not put up with difficulties for some days? I have full confidence that every professional will stand up and participate in this of

    My dear countrymen, after the festivity of Diwali, now join the industry and extend your hand in this Imandaari ka to this Pramanikta ka challenge this celebration of integrity, this festival of credibility.

    I am sure that all agencies, brands, manufacturers, associates, vendors, stakeholders and indeed all sections of the industry will take part in this with enthusiasm and make it a success.

     

    Fellow industry veterans and youngsters with dreams in your eyes,

    Secrecy was essential for this action. It is only now, as I speak to you, that various agencies and others are being informed. Obviously, time will be needed. Therefore, all agencies will be closed to the clients on 17th November. This may cause some hardship to you. I have full faith that you will be able to work with your agencies to carry out this great task of industry importance. However, I appeal to all of you to help meet this challenge with poise and determination.

     

    Fellow industry veterans and youngsters with dreams in your eyes,

    In an industry history, there come moments when every professional feels he should be part of that moment, that he should make his contribution to the progress. Such moments come but rarely.

    Now, we again have an opportunity where every professional can join this mahayajna against the ills of Free Pitches and Scam ads.

     

    The more help you give in this campaign, the more successful it will be.

    It has been a matter of concern for all of us that FREE PITCHES and SCAM ADS tend to be accepted as part of life. This type of thinking has afflicted our briefs, clients, creativity and like an infestation of termites. This is more rampant in the public sector. I am aware none of our public institutions is free from these termites.

    Time and again, I have seen that when the average professional has to choose between scam ads and bearing inconvenience, they always choose to put up with inconvenience. They will not support scam ads.

    Once again, let me invite you to make your contribution to this grand sacrifice for cleansing our industry, just as you cleaned up your surroundings during Diwali.

    Let us ignore the temporary hardship and few missed releases.

    Let us join this festival of integrity, and credibility.

    Let us enable coming generations to live with dignity.

    Let us fight free pitches and scam ads.

    Let us ensure that our creative powers help insight hungry brands.

    Let us enable creative and media to get due share.

    I have confidence in the few thousands that make this industry, and I am sure industry will get success.

    Thank you very much. Thanks a lot.

    Namaskar.

    SCAM AD aur FREE PITCHES KI M** KI

     

     

     

  • The entertainment industry is notorious for having perspective problems, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Shailesh Kapoor: Perspective: Entertainment Can Wait When It Needs To

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Perspective is a powerful word. It is also an underrated one, and “losing perspective” is not an uncommon thing to do. The entertainment industry, in particular, is notorious for having perspective problems. And nothing highlights this more than the events of the last week. It may not be the most obvious linkage, but it’s one worth diving into.

     

    With the cash economy coming under increasing pressure over the last 10 days, the focus of the country has been on keeping their lives running. Everything else comes second to that. Now that’s pretty obvious, you would say. But this dead-duck-obvious piece of fact actually challenges how the entertainment industry, especially the film industry and the ad industry, has been thinking for years.

     

    The perception that the entire country, if not the world, is waiting with bated breath for their new film, trailer, ad, channel or show launch is something you would strongly sense in the corridors of a media house. It is natural to feel involved with one’s work, and passionately so too. But the perspective that this industry’s work after all is not essential to running people’s lives is often not understood in so many words.

     

    It is routine to hear sweeping statements like “People have simply loved the show, we are getting so much positive feedback, we can’t even read all of it” or “I’m surprised its recall is so low. Everyone I meet is talking only about it”. In a country as big as ours, words like everyone, people, so much, etc. can mean previous little, especially when spoken without perspective. The social media has made it worse. It has increased the interaction of celebrities, creative talent and media executives with their audience manifold, creating more and more illusion about how substantive their work is.

     

    Let’s look at some numbers for perspective. Only 36.6 million (3.66 crore) Indians contribute to 87% of Bollywood’s theatrical business. More than 65% television sets are switched off at 9pm, which is the peak of primetime. An episode of the biggest show on TV gets about 12 million (1.2 crore) impressions only. These numbers may look sizeable, when you compare them to random data points, like the population of a mid-sized state in the USA. But when seen in the Indian context, they are certainly not national unifiers.

     

    Entertainment is a powerful industry in influencing public opinion, shaping popular culture and creating social change. There is no debate on that. But it is, to begin with, primarily a medium of relaxation and enjoyment. No shame in that. Relaxation and enjoyment are not easy to come by. But ascribing undue importance to the role of the entertainment business is where perspective is lost.

    Theatres have been largely empty over the last week and a half. In a research conducted by Ormax Media earlier this week, 28% of regular theatre-goers said they will not be able to watch a film in theatres at least for the next week, till their cash situation improves. This number is likely to be significantly higher among irregular theatre goers.

    The “non-essential” nature of the entertainment business is evident. People don’t talk TV shows and films all the time. They have a life to run, which can at times include standing in long bank and ATM queues for hours. That’s their perspective. What’s yours?

     

  • Across news channels, you can see anchors getting shifty when a panellist condemns the implementation of this scheme too much, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: The government will defend monetisation, but journalists?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So here we are on November 18, 10 days after the Prime Minister’s dramatic announcement that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes are no longer legal tender and that till the end of the year, Indian citizens were no longer allowed to access their own money in quantities that they might desire. The intention was a “surgical strike” on untaxed and unaccounted money lying in pillow cases and mattresses and dungeons all over dishonest India.

     

    Whichever way you want to spin it – and the media definitely does – this demonetisation exercise has caused massive (not minor) “inconvenience”, which is the new government buzzword for death, misery and starvation. It’s not just about people standing in queues outside banks in cities, although the media has given us images and sound bites and quotes in buckets from there. It is about almost every journalist deciding that to be objective, you have make an effort to try and find at least one person who says: “Rah rah Modi, I am so happy that my old mother has had to postpone her life-saving operation for the sake of the nation because I have no cash and no insurance and I don’t trust government hospitals”. This balances all the others who are angry, frustrated, miserable, tired and desperate.

     

    Not only that, across news channels, you can see anchors getting shifty when a panellist condemns the implementation of this scheme too much. Analysts and opposition party politicians get interrupted because we have to go to a break or give the BJP spokesperson the chance to respond.

     

    In all this, one has to commend Ravish of NDTV as ever for his scathing attacks on injustice, for Rajdeep Sardesai for talking to people and reporting on their suffering, to Nidhi Razdan of NDTV for her excellent interview with Arun Shourie who is in his element when picking holes in the prime minister’s ego, to Arfa Khanum of Rajya Sabha TV for her brave and bold panel discussions which can be no holds barred and to Zakka Jacob of CNN-News18 for decided that it is more professional to focus on people’s suffering rather than becoming a government cheerleader. And we definitely feel the terrible loss of Girish Nikam.

     

    Too many journalists unfortunately cannot see the difference between attacking black money and pointing out problems with the implementation of this scheme. Obviously, the government will defend its idea. But when journalists declare that Kashmir’s various problems have been solved since stone-pelting by angry youth has stopped because of demonetisation, then you know they are not journalists and might as well apply as BJP spokesperson to MJ Akbar or Sambit Patra or whoever.

     

    The Opposition ripped into the government in both houses of Parliament this week. What did we see more of on TV? Of course, it was Union minister Venkaiah Naidu’s defence of the scheme and anger at the Opposition. The narrative that if you are complaining about the scheme you are an anti-national in favour of corruption is parroted not just by the government and BJP but also by some sections of the media.

     

    How much play did the expose by Prashant Bhushan on payments made by corporates to politicians of all parties get, compared to coverage of the prime minister weeping? How much play did the videos of BJP members complaining about the scheme get? How about people caught for bribery using the new Rs 2000 notes? Instead, people pooh-poohing the deaths in queues got more airtime.

     

    Catch News today has a story that RSS member Govindacharya has issued a legal notice to the Government on the monumental failure of the currency ban and demanded compensation. Let’s see how much our national media cares about that. Or will it all be Nalin Kohli dismissing the RSS as anti-national? And Quint has a story about how Arun Jaitley turned down agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh’s request that farmers be allowed to buy seeds with old notes. Anyone willing to guess how much air time such news will get?

     

    I’m not holding my breath…

     

  • We are now almost a fortnight into life after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes but the media remains up and down on the issue, especially English news television, notes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Anyone in English News TV interested in doing fab work?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    These are just headlines from the Dehradun edition of the Times of India, Sunday November 20:

    :: Why demonetisation will hit just a fraction of black money: Estimates cap illegal cash at 5% of total black economy
    :: 3 die after failing to exchange notes
    :: Panic attacks send bizmen, surgeons, ministers to shrinks
    :: 4.5mn trucks stranded on Indian roads
    :: Senior citizens queue outside banks to exchange Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes (From blurb: Many of the old citizens however complained that some of the banks were still cashless and the withdrawal limit had added to their problems)
    :: Cops in fix over confiscated cash in demonetised notes, seek legal help (from blurb: The cash worth crores is case property… can only be opened with permission of the court)
    :: Industries opt for lock down, cut production to tide over slump: Many of the 700 factories in Udham Singh Nagar can’t pay for transport, labourers
    :: Agra’s shoe industry stares at uncertain future (from inside body copy: serious manpower crisis as the factory owners are not able to arrange cash)

     

    **

    This is just one day and three pages (I am, umm, ignoring the Mobikwik ads on the front and inside jackets!).

    **

     

    We are now almost a fortnight into life after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes and the nation is still in chaos. However, the media remains up and down on the issue, especially English news television. While they have reported extensively on the trauma, their coverage has still been limited to ATM queues in cities.

     

    The situation in villages has become worse. With legal tender in short supply, it is clearly being sent first to cities and then to remote areas. The sowing season is on, which means that both farmers and farm labourers are affected. I am ashamed to admit that those of us who live in cities are completely clueless about life elsewhere and we continue to ask stupid questions about why the underprivileged are not cashless. I feel sometimes comments like that should be highlighted and some facts presented to their makers. Cashless in rural India usually means distress and debt.

     

    Even from a heartless solely journalistic principle, there are enough stories to be done about the flourishing black market industry which has emerged out of this move to flush out unaccounted cash. TS Sudhir exposes how corruption works in the police in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana for firstpost.com – and it is a befitting answer to some of the hysterical drum-beating faux nationalism seen in that news website’s comment pieces.

    http://www.firstpost.com/india/demonetisation-drive-the-corruption-economy-will-be-unaffected-by-this-move-3116312.html

     

    There are money exchange agents all over the country now, taking cuts of anywhere from 10% to 30% per cent to exchange old notes. Why doesn’t some star anchor have a television “debate” on the great Indian sense of “jugaad” coming to the rescue? Our retired and/or sacked corporate honchos who lecture us endlessly on how great this Central government is should all be there. Incidentally, am I the only one who thought that Barkha Dutt ought to have asked Gurcharan Das on last Saturday’s show what happened to those 10 million jobs the Modi government was going to create? After all, some of those jobs have now been created – in illegal currency-trading!

     

    In fact, the scope for television is fabulous here. Remember when Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the Planning Commission (in UPA times) came up with appalling and absurd poverty line per diem figures for a sustainable life in the city? And two young men tried to live on that and ran out of money in a couple of hours?

     

    Why not take Mohandas Pai, Gurcharan Das, Sunil Alagh – I have picked out these names at random – and do a TV reality show like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s The Simple Life? Send them to a remote Indian village. And let them survive for one month on plastic and cashless money alone.

     

    Anyone?

    **

     

    Post script: And what is happening on India Today TV? There was Rajdeep Sardesai sitting and chatting with Sonia Gandhi about her mother-in-law on Monday evening.

     

    Must have been some real antacid moments for Patriot Star Anchors in the newsroom there!

     

  • Sanjeev Kotnala reviews veteran adman Ivan Arthur's 'A Village Dies – your invitation to a memorable funeral'

    Brilliant Storytelling…

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    After a long time, I read a book that is an example of brilliant storytelling. ‘A Village Dies – your invitation to a memorable funeral’ by Ivan Arthur. Published by ‘Speaking Tiger’.

    It is a story in convenient flashbacks. TVD, is a story of two villages Kevni and Amboli, in erstwhile Bombay. A mixed community of East Indian, Anglo-Indian, Goan and Mangalorean live there. Through ages, the genes naturally get mixed. The attitude and approach to life changed just that bit. However, the village slowly dies.

    Ivan Arthur captures this through the prism of the tomboy Kitty. She is attending the funeral of simpleton gravedigger Hanging Gardens and is remembering the life of the village she knows so well.

    There are stories within stories. I liked that. Rather I really enjoyed it. They are intrinsic interwoven episodes of life. Every character alive to the real life around them. The thoughts, beliefs and eccentricity are all evident and amplified in the simple narration.

    Sharing a paragraph from ‘The Village Dies’ (from Page 81): “On her subsequent visits to Byculla, she persuaded him to bring his guitar along. They would sit on two separate chairs across the room, she singing from those little pop songbooks that the Furtados had made popular, he improvising his own chords by ear. This discreet live stereophony (the concept had not yet caught on in Bombay) didn’t last long. The two chairs across the room were given up for the couch. They sat at the two ends of it—singer and accompanist—till songbook, and daylight was consumed. In time, the distance between singer and accompanist had shrunk until strings ad voice had merged into one indiscreet live monopoly.

    A craftsman playing with short sweet sentences. Ivan Arthur makes it so easy on mind. He captures your attention from Page 1 and pulls you through the rest of 223 pages. Like an Indian movie, he does slacken the grip, a wee bit around the 200th page mark. There he speeds through ‘The Gulf of Kevni and Amboli’ and you tend to get upset with sudden introduction of pace in otherwise silent waters. However, right at the next corner, with ‘The Sultan’s Man’, he catches you back in the web.

    I am surprisingly reminded of R K Narayan’s style of storytelling. There are loving families, changing attitudes, unsaid love and polarised reactions captured within compact paragraphs with easy, flowing narration. Ivan Arthur style of narration is a bit more complicated compared to simplicity of RKN, but it still has the same DNA.

    ‘The Village Dies’ is a compulsive reading. Too tough to put down. The village comes alive. You know each of the frames and turns. Though there are no visual references, nevertheless, you get a clear picture of every house and roads taking you there. You are with the characters. You are part of their lives, just over their shoulder. You fall in love with them and hate others. You feel their emotions. And that for me is great storytelling.

    Here is another pick from ‘The Village Dies’ (from Page 184): “The story does that one of the younger ladies from these hutments had struck up a tender relationship with a bachelor from the East Indian home she was working in. What started with affectionate words and furtitive caresses swelled into a cataract of uncontrollable passion. Their affair didn’t go unnoticed. She overheard his mother to tell him not to be an idiot. The woman working in the neighboring home called her aside and said, ‘Be sensible. These Christians will beat you up, and so will your husband’s people. Stop this foolishness’.

    Every chapter is a complete story in itself. It is isolated. It is like steps on a ladder. You can halt at any one of them to take rest. Each step ultimately taking you that closer to a logical conclusion.

    ‘A Village Dies’ will have a place of respect and honour in my collection. I am sure it is not going to be uncaged for long unless I find a right reader to present it.

    I have not read Ivan Arthur’s earlier works. Four of his books are: ‘Pavement Prayers’, ‘Once More upon a Time’, ‘Jossie’ or ‘The Fourteen Stations’. I think I read the fifth book ‘Brands under Fire’ but am unsure. However, with ‘The Village Dies’ I am hugely tempted to get my hands on them.

    Ivan Arthur is former national creative director of JWT India (then Hindustan Thompson Associates or HTA). He spent 38 years in advertising before retiring in 2002. A Village Dies – Your invitation to a memorable funeral is available on Amazon.in at Rs 239. Sanjeev Kotnala, well-known marketer, columnist, management consultant and a voracious reader, writes for MxMIndia every Wednesday